Pieces
by LitaFanForLife
Summary: This is how Chloe and Oliver started their crazy and wonderful ride and how it all played out, but if you're a fan of some other Smallville characters, especially Lois, Bart and Clark- they'll be seen too Story is better than the description, I think :
1. Chapter 1

o-0-o-0-o Hello everyone. This is my first time posting a Smallville fic and I hope it will be enjoyed. I wrote a huge portion of this story (many chapters) over a year ago lol and then a bunch of stuff came up and I had no time to write and thought I had lost what I had already written. It turns out I didn't lose the stuff I'd written lol I just saved it in a folder I never look at. What I had decided that I wanted to do was basically my own version of the episodes from Warrior and on. I pretty much stick with what happened in the episodes, so don't be surprised when you see dialogue from the show. I add A LOT more to what happened, basically what was going on in everyone's heads and what I had envisioned going down offscreen. Things will stick with the episodes from season 9 til pretty much the end of that season. There will come a point when I go completely my own way, though. I really love Chloe and Oliver and I was enthralled watching them. I really hope you'll enjoy this story about them. Also, if anyone is a fan of Chloe and Clark- I adore their friendship and there will be quite a bit of non-romantic Chloe and Clark throughout the story. Lois, Davis, Bart, Dinah, Victor, A.C., Tess, John, Emil, Lana, Moira Sullivan, Jimmy will either be mentioned or a part of the story in some way, some characters a lot more than others. If you're all still interested, here we go I hope you'll enjoy this first chapter. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think. It's the only way I know if I should keep posting o-0-o-0-o

She had walked into the Watchtower, not expecting any company. She wasn't really in the chattiest of moods. A very good-looking man had made her smile a little bit today and then he turned out to be a pre-pubescent boy. Oh and before he actually became his normal pre-pubescent self again, he'd basically tried to kill her. Yeah, it had been an interesting day to say the least. It had definitely left her thinking.

She didn't know that Oliver was going to be there, though he'd definitely been hanging around the Watchtower more often lately. They'd seen a lot more of each other recently than they had in the past. They'd had plenty of contact for a few years, they were co-workers and friends, but there was definitely more actual face-to-face time recently. She wasn't feeling chatty, but she didn't feel like sending him away, either. He was actually pretty good to have around.

Chloe walked through the doors and was greeted with an arrow flying towards its target. It definitely brought her out of her own thoughts. "Slow night?" she asked him.

"Figured I'd squeeze in some target practice and a single malt," he answered.

Chloe laughed a bit on the inside. "Did you bring enough for the rest of the class?" What the hell, she could chat a bit.

"Help yourself Professor. Running a little light on allegory tonight. Bumpy day?" he questioned.

"Not the smoothest," she admitted. "Someone asked me when the last time I had a goodtime was and I didn't have an answer," she told him, referring to what the cute guy/pre-pubescent boy had asked her earlier.

"I don't think anyone can fault you for being on edge, Chloe. If anyone can relate it's me. I get it."

"Yeah you can," she said.

"You know, sometimes you gotta take your fun where you can get it, and sometimes its right in front of your face; you just have to want to see it," he said, turning to her.

She looked back at him.

"Come on," he said, motioning her over to him.

She put down her drink and walked over to him. He held out the crossbow to her and she took it, but he didn't let go completely. His hand over hers, his other hand sliding up her arm.

_Oh- uh..._

"How do I know when to let go?" she asked quietly.

"It's all about your heart," he answered as he moved his hand across her arm towards her other small hand. "Just listen, Right there in between the beats."

Chloe turned slightly and looked at his fingers over hers. _Still touching. Oh my..._

"That's when you let go," he had said.

Chloe took a breath and she did let go.

Those were the last words spoken between the two for awhile.

She'd shot the arrow and pretty much hit the bulls-eye. Chloe had a grin on her face, one that Oliver returned with a little something extra in it... Something was about to happen. They both knew it. What the hell was happening? Chloe bit her lip and shook her head. _I can't do this._

She turned to leave, but Oliver was in front of her before she'd moved very far. He shook his head at her and took her hand, telling her not to leave without actually speaking.

Chloe looked once again at his hand on hers, and that was it. She didn't care, not tonight. She took her hand out of his and walked to the door. Before Oliver had the chance to tell her to stay, she shut the doors, but didn't walk out of them. She walked back to Oliver and didn't say a word.

She just looked him in the eye and after about five seconds, his lips were smashing down onto hers and clothes began to fly off not long after that.

It was intense but not violent. It was beautiful but not wholesome. It was amazing, but scary too. It was right but it was wrong. It was so many things, unexpected probably being somewhere near the top of that list. Chloe and Oliver were lost in each other. Who knows how long they would have gone at it, they wouldn't find out that night.

After awhile, one of Chloe's alarms went off, signalling that one of the team members was trying to get in touch with her. Chloe practically jumped away from Oliver at the sound of the alarm.

"Oh my- wow. I, I... We- okay," she mumbled, finally really thinking about what she and Oliver just did.

She found that she couldn't meet his eyes. She'd just had sex with Oliver Queen. She'd just slept with her friend and co-worker- her very good looking friend and co-worker.

The alarm sounded again. Speaking of co-workers, she needed to check on the one who was calling her. She grabbed her skirt and shirt off the floor, trying to avoid eye contact with Oliver, and make her way over to the computer as fast as possible. She typed in a quick password and spoke. "You've got Watchtower, what's up Impulse? Chloe said, trying to sound normal.

"Beautiful Watchtower boss lady," Bart started and Chloe couldn't help but laugh. "We got the target, it's all good."

"I knew it would be," Chloe answered him, sliding into her skirt. "You got it covered," she said, pouring herself some water.

"You sound out of breath, gorgeous. What's going on?" he asked, which made Chloe spit out her water.

"Umm, gotta go. Everything's fine. Talk to you tomorrow," Chloe said, trying to end the conversation, while partially putting her top back on.

"Ooooh, now I get why you didn't answer right away," Bart said with a little chuckle.

"Oh please shut up," she practically begged. Oliver could hear the whole thing and she saw that he had a bit of a smile on his face

"When are you going to see that you should be with me," Bart asked light-heartedly as Chloe opened up the video-feed two ways so Bart could see her too.

"Alright there buddy. You got all that out of your system?" Chloe asked.

"Flirting with you? Never," Bart laughed.

"It would never work between us, you know?" Chloe told him with a smile. As uncomfortable as the situation was with Oliver right now, Bart had a way of making her laugh in spite of almost anything. "Our whole banter thing would probably go out the window. And you'd stop flirting with me, which is just craziness. Bart, you and me actually together would just throw the world off balance. We couldn't do that to the world," she laughed.

"Are you trying to break my heart, beautiful? First I was too young, then you had a boyfriend and then you were married to said boyfriend. You can't kill my dreams before you even give me a chance," he laughed, expecting at least a little bit of laughter back.

Chloe just took a deep breath. "I really do need to go," she finally said. Jimmy popped into her mind now and everything just started feeling even more wrong.

"Wow, okay- idiot award totally goes to me. Sometimes my mouth and brain don't communicate with each other. Next time you see me, you totally have a free 'smack me in the face because I'm an idiot' pass," Bart said apologetically.

Chloe let out a bit of a sad laugh. "I don't think I'll be using it. Don't worry about it."

"One more thing before I let you go," he said gently.

"Yeah," Chloe answered.

"Arrow's not answering his phone, if you see or here from him before I do-"

"What's up Impulse?" Oliver said, coming over to the computer and Chloe.

"Oh you're there, that's handy," Bart said. "You said to call to let you know about the thing and you don't even answer your phone."

"Sorry I was busy, I wasn't really thinking about your call buddy- kind of forgot you'd be calling. I actually don't know where my phone is- it's probably under the couch at this point," Oliver said, honestly oblivious to the idea and actual truth of the situation he was giving to Bart.

Bart seemed to be putting two and two together and Chloe smacked Oliver upside the head.

"Oh _hell _no. Bossman, dude seriously, I hate your guts... You just got with 'Licious? Come on. _Arrow?_ Why Bossman, why not someone who's _not_ on the Team?"

Chloe buried her head in her hands.

"Impulse, shut up- like _right_now," Oliver said.

"Nothing happened," Chloe said, pathetically and Bart didn't buy it at all.

And then Oliver gave her a look as if to say, 'Yeah, like he's gonna buy that.' And then Chloe shot Oliver a very annoyed look and Bart saw all of it and felt a little bit bad. He shouldn't have said anything. It wasn't his business. But this was Chloe and everyone knew he had a little thing for her. He wasn't in love with her, but still, he liked her a lot. It was a innocent crush and of course nothing was ever gonna happen, but still- this sucked. Oliver kinda sucked right now.

"Okay, sorry guys," he mumbled. "Not my business- don't worry I'll keep my trap shut... I'll talk to you about it tomorrow, if you two need to go."

"Only one of us needs to go, you can chat up Arrow all you want. Goodnight boys," Chloe said, grabbing the last of her things off the floor.

"Where are you going? It's pitch black outside. It's too dark to walk," Oliver said

"Did you forget I was a reporter? It's never too late or dark to walk outside... Sign off and lock up when you're done," she said, agitated.

"Give me a couple minutes and I'll walk with you," Oliver said.

"Give _me _a couple minutes and I can _run you _to your apartment if you're in a hurry," Bart called out, done with his little tantrum phase.

"Don't worry, if I get mugged or attacked and somehow can't handle it myself and my tazer doesn't work I promise I'll yell for help and you two can play hero."

"Licious' you have a tazer?" Bart asked, back in flirty mode.

"Yes I do," she answered.

"That's hot," he said. "Hey 'Licious," he called out again.

"Yep?"

"I do not want to know anything about you and the boss who shall not be named. Just letting it be known that Impulse will not stop flirting with Watchtower," he smirked.

"Shut up about that stuff, please," she said seriously. "But as to flirting, sure, you've got dibs on flirting with me," Chloe said with a little laugh as she walked out the door. "Goodnight boys."

And with that, Chloe quickly left Watchtower and headed back to her apartment at the Talon. She took a long shower and tried to go to bed, but she couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened tonight and that Bart now knew about it, too. Chloe could honestly say that she had _never_ _ever_ thought that she would sleep with Oliver Queen. You're not supposed to sleep with your friends and you're not supposed to sleep with someone you work with. And you really shouldn't do it in the place that your dead husband bought for you as your wedding present; the place where he was killed by a guy to whom you were the whole world, a guy- who you thought you had come to love before it became clearer and clearer that he was going to annihilate your best friend; the guy who you had run away with to save said best friend.

Jimmy hadn't even been dead for a year. His last words to her, or anyone for that matter were "I love you." He had told her that as he had died in her arms, at the hands of the same guy whose destiny it was to kill her best friend. Chloe wasn't sure when her eyes started to get watery, but she caught the first tear before it fell.

She did not get to cry. She was not going to think about love anymore, she'd already decided that the day she buried Jimmy. Her life was about work. Work was what was important. Keeping the heroes safe and their identities a secret (A.C., Dinah, Victor, Bart, Oliver, and her at the moment crap-tastic best friend Clark) was what was important. And Lois. That was what was important. Nothing else.

She drilled this back into her head, determined not to let emotions or loneliness, or whatever, be a motivator for anything she did. When the man/boy had asked her when the last time she had a good time was she should have told him she couldn't remember and that it didn't matter. Her being happy didn't matter.

No more sex with Oliver- that had been too good and too wrong. And it was over. They were both lonely- that's all it had been. That's all it would be. They'd both forget about it in the morning and things would just go back to normal.

Chloe desperately wanted to stop thinking about everything because if she didn't she would only start thinking deeper, and thinking deeper would bring up too many emotions- and she was trying to rid herself of most of those. She didn't want to face them, and there were more important things to worry about.

"Get some sleep, Sullivan" she muttered to herself.

She'd had trouble sleeping for awhile, but it hadn't been so bad lately, except for tonight. Another hour and a half passed by and she was still awake. She got out of bed and rummaged in the cabinet looking for her sleeping pills. She took an extra pill, in hopes of falling asleep that much sooner, hoping for an end to the constant flow of thoughts in her head. The sleeping pills did their trick. It wasn't long before sleep found Chloe and her eyes finally closed; finally giving her mind a rest.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Oliver thought about going back to his place, but decided to just stay at Watchtower. He knew Chloe would be there in the morning, he might as well stay where he knew she'd soon be so he could talk to her. They had sex, she was completely there with him and it was like when that alarm sounded she couldn't get away from him fast enough. She clearly thought it was a mistake, even though she didn't push him away once. He didn't want to ruin things with her, and maybe he just did, but he didn't see why it had to be like that. They'd needed each other, and maybe it was wrong, but it didn't feel that way. This didn't have to make things awkward between them, right? They were both adults. They could be mature about it.

They'd had sex. It was great and now it was over and they could go back to being friends- right?... Friends who just had sex in the same place where her husband was killed... How had it taken him that long to remember that this was where Davis killed Jimmy? Sometimes he was a bit slow. He had to admit that now he was feeling guilty. But Jimmy wouldn't hold it against him, right? He knew he was dead, but he couldn't help but think about Jimmy; Jimmy who loved Chloe with pretty much everything he had...

Maybe it shouldn't have happened, but it wasn't completely wrong. They weren't hurting anyone and it wasn't like it was something dirty. They were friends and co-workers who cared about each other who maybe went a little too far, but it was okay. Everything would be fine. It wasn't going to happen again, maybe they wouldn't even need to talk about it...

o-o-o-o-o-o

When Chloe returned to the Watchtower the next morning, she thought she'd be alone with her computers, so she was a little more than surprised when she saw Oliver lying on the couch. She almost spilled her coffee. She contemplated leaving, but Oliver opened his eyes and saw her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey yourself," she answered quietly

So much for not being awkward and forgetting about it.

"I guess we're going to need to have a talk," Oliver said.

"Yeah, I guess so," she answered, not really ready to talk. "You stayed here all night?" Chloe asked Oliver awkwardly.

"Yeah. Hope that's okay," he said.

"This might technically be my building but everything in it is for the team. You've pretty much paid for everything here. You know that you and Dinah and the guys can crash here when you need to. I told you that before."

"Yeah, but it's kind of different- at least this particular time-"

"I know," she admitted. "I was _so_ hoping we didn't have to do this whole conversation thing, but what the hell, here it goes... I don't do sex without love, at least I haven't in a long time- until last night. Don't get me wrong, Ollie- I love you, but I don't _love_ you, and I know you don't love me... I think I'm kind of swearing off love- well I actually did that months ago, after- well it doesn't matter. As last night proves, though, I'm human and sex _doesn't_ have to be about love.

"It's about bodily need, human contact- flesh on flesh, and try as I have to push down emotion or desire or whatever- sometimes the body wins- our bodies won last night. And my body's probably going to win again at some point- but that can't be with you, not again. It was awesome, it _really _was and I don't regret it- but we can't do that again... It's about the mission. We work together and we're friends, and the friends part is probably part of the reason we work so well together. Sex between friends is bound to screw things up somehow. And that could transfer over into work, and we're in a business where we _really _should not be screwing up... And I realize you were probably going to say something like that, but hey I said it, so we don't even need to spend another second talking about it, right?" Chloe blurted out.

Oliver couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "Poor thing. You must have been flipping out about this all night. You were, weren't you?"

"Maybe," she answered back with a little laugh of her own.

"I know what you're saying, it makes a sense for sure. And I've gotta say I'm really sorry about that whole thing with Bart, I could tell you wanted to kick my ass. I honestly wasn't thinking and I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable or anything and I didn't tell him anything..."

"I know you didn't," Chloe told him.

"Anyway, you're probably right about the friends and sex thing- but don't you think it gets screwed up because they bring expectations into it?" Oliver asked.

Chloe didn't know if she was supposed to answer. She didn't know what to say anyway, so she kept her mouth shut.

"I think things get screwed up with friends because of expectations; there doesn't have to be expectations. No expectations, no screw ups," Oliver couldn't really believe the words coming out of his own mouth. What the hell was he doing? "No strings, no expectations. Nothing would happen that you didn't want."

_Wow. That's just his way of saying he agrees with me, right? And then he's just clarifying that my example situation wouldn't have to apply to everyone, right? Sure..._ Chloe just nodded.

"That secret thingy between you and Bart. Is it anything important, does it need to be on my radar?" Chloe asked him finally.

"It's not a secret and no, you don't need to worry about it," he answered.

"Good to hear, because I have like 50 million other things I need to worry about today," Chloe said, shifting the topic back to work.

"And that's different from any other day, how exactly?" Oliver teased.

Chloe grinned. "Some of this stuff is more annoying than usual," Chloe said.

As was Clark's custom, he appeared out of nowhere, sending some papers flying.

"Clark," Chloe whimpered. "It's too early in the morning to ask me to do anything. I'm not favour girl till I've got some coffee and something sweet in my system."

"Hey Chloe," Clark grinned. He didn't see Oliver.

"I'm serious, Clark. I've got the coffee, but if you don't have something sweet behind your back Watchtower is _not _online and computer Chloe is not at anyone's service," she said with a small laugh but being serious at the same time.

"What if the world's ending, and the only way we can stop it is with your computer genius?" Clark asked her with a grin.

"Is the world ending?" Chloe asked sarcastically.

"No," he admitted.

"Then my answer stands," Chloe said with a smile of her own.

Times like this, when they still joked around and smiled, Clark wasn't crap-tastic. He was just her very best friend again. But lately times like this were pretty much non-existent. There was something wrong between them, but neither of them said anything about it.

"I brought you a couple danishes," Clark said, handing them over to her.

"Good man," Chloe said. "Now give me a couple minutes- and we can get down to business," Chloe said, taking a seat to enjoy a couple bites of one of the danishes.

Clark finally noticed Oliver. "Hey Oliver... What's up? I didn't see you there. Isn't this early for you to be awake, or were you here all night?"

"So _that's _how you get Chloe to help you out early in the morning. I'll keep that in mind... Chloe, any flavours you don't like?" Oliver laughed, not answering the question.

"Not a big fan of the blueberry. You can't really go wrong with the rest, though," she said. She walked over to Clark after another bite of the danish and a few sips of coffee. "Oliver was here all night. You're not the only hero I know, remember?" Chloe said, giving Clark a pat on the head. "He checked in late last night; he got lazy, so he crashed here. Now what do you need big guy? I know you need something."

"Can't I just visit?" he said.

"Sure you _can._ But you haven't come around just to visit in months, so let's get down to it my friend. What do you need from Chloe today?" she said.

They sounded perfectly happy when they spoke; there was no malice in their voice. But with the exchanges Clark and Chloe had had in the past couple minutes, it just showed Oliver, even more than he already thought, that Clark and Chloe weren't the same as they used to be.

"I just wanted to know how the passports are coming along," Clark said.

"For our dear friends, the Kandorians? Chloe said sarcastically.

"Yes," Clark answered.

"I told you two days ago when I'd have them ready. Everything's fine. You'll have them in two days and then you can give my not so favourite Martians their new lives. Until then my friend, do me a favour and don't bring them up again. You can do that much for me, can't you?" Chloe said, with an edge in her voice.

"Come on Chloe, don't be like that. I was just checking in on how it's going."

"Some things change, but some don't. You know I'm not a fan of your fellow Kandorians, but you asked me for help and I told you I would help you. I always do. If I say I'll help, I will. You know I always come through," Chloe said.

"Yeah, I know that. Okay, I can see I pissed you off. Sorry," Clark said.

"Yeah," Chloe answered. "Whatever, it's fine. Did you need anything else?"

"No, that was all," he answered.

Chloe walked over to the main computer and started typing. She put on her earpiece and connected with Dinah. "Canary, what's the situation... Okay good. I'm not going to be at Watchtower for awhile, but if you need me, you know how else to get in touch. Talked to Impulse last night. Aquaman and Cyborg are messaging me as we speak... Okay, I'll talk to you later."

Clark and Oliver stood staring at each other. No one really knew what to say.

Chloe walked back over to the guys. "Did you need to talk about anything else? Chloe asked Clark. "Or is it okay, if I jet out of here and shoo you both out at the same time?"

Then she turned to Oliver. "We're good," she told him, "back to normal."

"Whatever you want- we're back to normal," he answered.

Clark looked from Oliver to Chloe, something seemed different, but he didn't know what.

"Clark," Chloe said.

"Oh yeah, sorry. No, I didn't need to talk or anything. It's fine. Didn't you just get here?" he asked.

"Yeah I did, but I have to go do something... Alright guys, let's go... Ollie, don't look at me like that- here wake up, have the second danish. Let's go. Not that I don't love both of your company, but when I get back I need a tiny bit of alone Watchtower time."

"She's kicking us out, Oliver," Clark said.

"Yes I am, for a couple hours- then you're both allowed back.

"Fine," the guys mumbled, as Chloe ushered them out the door.

o-o-o-o-o

Chloe was at the cemetery. She was actually sitting in front of Jimmy's headstone. Not too far off, Davis was also buried, but not too many people knew that. Bart was one of the few who did. He'd helped her work that out with a shady character. Davis was buried close to the hill. There was no headstone or anything, though. No one knew anyone was buried there.

She'd gotten so mad at Clark today, though she tried not to let it show. She'd found that lately, when she got mad at Clark, so many other things would wash up with it. Davis and Jimmy were what washed up with it today... She didn't know why she came to the graveyard. It only made her more angry today, it only brought up emotions, which she was trying to rid herself of. She got up quickly and began to walk away.

Chloe didn't admit it to herself before, but she had so much anger built up inside, anger that went in a bunch of different directions. Some of it made no sense, but it was there- and as much as she liked the act like it wasn't- she knew it was, and she knew it wasn't good for her. She needed to try to let it go, but to do that would be to indulge in emotions. She didn't want to deal with her emotions. She said that they were going to be pushed aside. But she needed some kind of release, she needed something or somewhere to just unwind- not to feel happy, just to unwind, just to clear her head so she could do what she needed to do for those who needed her.

_Maybe I should buy a punching bag? _she thought pathetically. She looked down at her watch and was shocked to see that she'd been at the cemetery for almost an hour. She quickly made her way back to Watchtower. She needed to get online in the next few minutes, because there was an offer she couldn't refuse on some very important things, and she and the supplier needed to work out some details ASAP. She wanted everything said and done as soon as possible. She wanted what that guy had, and if they worked everything out in the next few minutes, she'd have what was needed. And then she would work on the stupid passports for Clark's Kandorian gang.

Chloe couldn't help but smile. She did it. She got what she needed, what they all needed, really. She was a good deal maker. As good as it was, she couldn't help but feel a little bad about it, but she'd think of that later. She needed to work on a few more of the passports for Clark. She was doing him this favour, but she wasn't going to be stupid about it. She had some extra work to do with the passports That, along with the deal she just made were the reasons why she needed a couple hours of alone time.

After she finished what she needed to do, she checked in with everyone and all was still good. She probably wouldn't hear from the team except for Ollie for a couple days because they were all working on their own stuff, so when Lois called her up she agreed to meet her. _Good old_ _Lois_, Chloe thought, as she walked over to meet her.

"Cousin darling, fill me in on what's new and exciting in Chloe land," Lois greeted.

Chloe laughed. "Hello to you too."

Lois and Chloe indulged in some not so healthy, but oh so yummy food and then went shopping for five hours and after that they even caught a movie. The day had come and gone and the dark of night began to return which meant it was time for Lois to head to the Planet to pick up her overnight bag that she'd brought over in the morning in preparation for her flight that would be leaving in a couple hours. She was heading out of town for a story for the Daily Planet.

After Chloe gave her a hug goodbye, she got a message from Oliver asking if she was close to her apartment. She replied that she was and asked what was up. He said that he'd meet her there because he was close by and he'd talk to her about it when she got there since she was on the way. It was something about Bart. Chloe started to worry a little bit so she quickened her pace.

Just around the corner from her apartment, she got another message from Oliver explaining that the Bart situation was fine, the two guys had just got their signals crossed. As she got closer to the apartment, she saw one of the Kandorians, and she felt the anger rise inside of her. She didn't trust these guys, and it frustrated her to no end that Clark seemed to just blindly trust them. All of that anger she was feeling before, came flooding back- it had been doing that far too much lately. She wished the Kandorians would just vanish, she thought they were bad news. She tried to push the Kandorians out of her head, but it wasn't working. Them and everything else that bothered her just would not go away.

She practically stomped up the stairs to the apartment and was surprised to find her door unlocked. She walked in and saw Oliver sitting on the sofa.

"You really should remember to lock your door. You didn't even have it shut all the way," Oliver greeted her.

"Really?" she said, not actually paying much attention to what he was saying.

"Yeah. Sorry about the Bart thing, we're a little stupid sometimes... You want me to head out?" he asked.

"You don't need to go," she answered. She shouldn't have been thinking what she was thinking, it went against what she had told herself last night _and_ what she'd told Oliver this morning, but she really didn't care anymore. He looked so good and he could make her forget everything for a little while.

"Alright," he said.

Chloe closed the door behind her. "Did you mean what you said about no expectations?" she asked him.

Oliver was a bit surprised, honestly. He never thought this would be happening between him and Chloe, but his voice was perfectly clear when he answered. "I meant it."

"Good," she said, kicking off her shoes, making her way towards him. "I'm in," she whispered, pulling him down to her, capturing his lips with hers.


	2. Chapter 2

o-0-o-0-o- Hey everyone, here's chapter 2. Thanks to Kimberly, Jjjjjj, blue red wing, whatweareafreaidof, katibous, GoChlollie for reviewing and also to those who have favourited the story and put it on alert. I really hope you enjoy the chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

"_You were supposed to love me_. _You married me. I would have given you_ _everything._ _Why_ _didn't you love me like I loved you"?_

"_I thought you loved me. I loved you. I really loved you. I wanted to fight my nature for_ _you. And you never even cared. You only pretended to love me. Why didn't you love me? I tried_ so _hard to be good for you."_

"_You left me. You're my best friend and you left. You left with him. You left with the guy_ _who was meant to kill me. Was it really all for me? You had feelings for him, didn't you? You_ _said it was all for me, but I don't believe you."_

" _...When did you become one of the bad guys?"_

"_You love him still. If you don't love me and I don't get to have you- he's not going to have_ _you either. He's done. He's dead now. And I think you need to go too. If I can't have you, I think_ _you have to be gone."_

"Stop, please. Just stop. I'm sorry. I loved you, I did. And you, I'm _not _talking about it. And _you _ know- if you needed me too, I'd die for you. I'd never betray you. And _you, _I'm not a bad guy. I'm not. Everything just went wrong- so so wrong," Chloe gasped, crying a river. "Go away. Please - all of you, go away."

Chloe sat up, finally opening her eyes and remembered that Oliver was beside her in her bed. She tried to stop crying.

"What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said, wiping her eyes.

Chloe was so embarrassed to have broken down like that, well, really, woken up like that. She couldn't control what haunted her dreams.

"Sidekick, seriously, are you okay?"

Chloe nodded, quickly getting up. "Um- I'm just going to go take a shower. If you want coffee or something, feel free to raid the cupboards- me and Lois pretty much bought the whole grocery store a couple days ago... Yeah, okay," Chloe said awkwardly, grabbing a couple towels and something to wear, heading to the washroom, not waiting for Oliver to say anything.

She softly banged her head against the wall. She really wished he hadn't seen her like that, heard her like that. Seen her in a moment where it was pretty clear how broken and haunted and messed up she had become. But maybe he didn't hear her? She really hoped he didn't. She turned on the water and closed the shower curtain and let the water soak her until she was calmer.

Oliver got out of Chloe's bed and grabbed his pants. When he came here yesterday, he had come about something in regards to Bart. When he realized everything was fine he had told Chloe he and Bart had just got their signals crossed. He should have just left after that, but he didn't. He wanted to see her and talk to her. He could say in all honesty that he didn't think what happened would happen, but he had kind of hoped it might. She had walked in and said a couple sentences to him and before he knew it, she was kissing him and then he was pulling her clothes off and then they were on her bed. Being with Chloe was- he didn't even have a word for it. It was different, but an awesome kind of different.

Anyone who had eyes and who knew Chloe before last year could tell that she was different now. Chloe was harder, tougher, more closed off. He had thought it had something to do with the whole Doomsday debacle, and he pretty much got his confirmation of his assumption this morning, but for whatever reason he didn't think she was haunted by it, he guessed he was pretty wrong about that. She had just hid it so well.

If he was right, he could point out each person she had been addressing. Jimmy, Davis, then Clark and then he was pretty sure, himself- by the "bad guy" remark. He had been an idiot last year at the Talon when that conversation went down. And now he felt guilty that he had possibly been a part of what clearly was a nightmare for her, judging by the way she woke up- crying. He wanted to say something to make her feel better. They'd went through a rough patch in their friendship for a couple months, but they'd been good for quite awhile now and he felt stupid for not picking up on her guilt and sadness. He'd been a crappy friend if he didn't know this before today.

He wanted to say something to her but he knew she would absolutely not want to talk about it. He wondered if part of her hated him for his part in everything that went down. He ventured to the kitchen area and decided the least he could do was make some coffee.

When she came out of the bathroom she immediately smelled coffee. "Awesome," she said when she saw a mug waiting for her. "Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome," he said.

Chloe sat down across from him and started to drink the coffee. Oliver was almost sure he shouldn't bring it up, but he couldn't not say anything. "Were you having a nightmare about Jimmy and Davis and-"

Chloe cut him off and tried not to be mean about it, but there was no way she was discussing this with him. It was too deep and too emotional- things that Chloe absolutely did not want to get into.

"Probably really freaked you out back there. Sorry," she said, keeping her tone light. "But really, don't worry about it. Sometimes I have bad dreams and they suck while you're asleep, but then you wake up and it's all good. We all have bad dreams once in awhile, nothing to worry about... Ollie, if you ever decide to change careers may I suggest one in the coffee business?" she laughed. "This is _really_ good."

Oliver let her have her way. He wasn't going to push her. "Okay, I get the hint, consider the subject changed."

Chloe gave him a smile but didn't say anything.

"So how do we do this, Sidekick- this no strings thing?"

"Oliver Queen is asking me how we do this 'no strings' thing?" Chloe said with a little laugh. "Like you haven't done this a million times before."

"Not with a friend, I haven't. Not with someone I actually give a crap about," he told her. "And yes I _do_ know that I was the one who mentioned this whole thing first back at Watchtower."

Surprisingly, talking about this was not making her uncomfortable and she actually grinned a little bit. "You just wanted to have sex with me again," Chloe teased and part of her couldn't believe they were having this conversation.

"Evidently those desires were reciprocal," he shot back with a grin of his own.

Chloe put her head in her hands and just shook her head, laughing. "This is _so _weird."

"It is," he agreed with a laugh of his own. "But at least it's not uncomfortable."

"So you asked how this works. We're not boyfriend and girlfriend. Nothing changes between us. We're still friends, we just have a little extra fun with each other and no one else needs to know. This stays our little secret- our very _fun _ little secret," Chloe told him.

Chloe, never in her life would have imagined that she would be having this conversation, or doing what she was doing- NEVER, but she didn't really care. She wasn't exactly the same Chloe anymore, was she?

"So, would you mind if I used your shower? Is that allowed in our little arrangement?" he asked her with a grin.

"See, I think if this was no strings with a stranger- some casual hook-up, I would probably just kick you out and not really want to see you again- but since you _are_ my friend and I actually don't mind seeing you, yes I think you _are_ allowed to use my shower. There's more soap in the cupboard if you need it" Chloe said.

"Heart of gold is what you've got, Chloe. So kind, so generous..." he laughed.

She smiled and shooed him away to the washroom. She felt the oh-so-familiar feeling of guilt start to wash up inside of her, but she tried to push it aside as she thought _this isn't_ _about_ _making myself happy. It's just about staying sane and finding some kind of release_ _so I can_ _help_ _the heroes, so just shut up. This is one thing I don't need to feel guilty for._

And when Oliver came out of the bathroom, showered and gorgeous about fifteen minutes later, she _didn't _feel guilty. She'd let herself have this.

She pushed a bowl of cereal at Oliver, as she at some of her own. "Eat," she said.

He just stared.

"What?" she grinned. "Cereal not good enough for Oliver Queen? Have you ever even eaten cereal? Well I'm sorry Arrow, we mere mortals eat cereal for breakfast sometimes."

"Chloe Sullivan- mere mortal? Yeah right," he chuckled.

She laughed back.

"And _yes_, of course I've eaten cereal, smartass" he laughed. "I was staring because I didn't think they still made this kind. I used to love this when I was a kid. I used to drive the nanny nuts. This is all I would eat for awhile."

Chloe smiled at the revelation about him as a child. "Well Blondie," Chloe smirked. "Maybe if you actually went to the grocery store instead of getting your staff to do it, you'd know they still make it."

"Who are you calling Blondie, sidekick?" he laughed pointing at _her_ blonde hair.

Chloe's cell phone rang and she got up to find it, she saw it but couldn't reach it. It was pretty far under her bed. "Come here," she called Oliver. "Your arms are longer than mine."

Oliver got up and got down beside Chloe. "How did it get under there?" he asked jokingly.

"Yeah, like you don't remember," she laughed back. "Come on, hurry up."

He reached it and quickly handed it to her.

"Hello," Chloe answered. "Lana!" Chloe said in a happy surprised tone. "Yeah I'm wide awake, no worries. Absolutely. That would be nice. Where are you right now? I'll come meet you... Oh, you're in the area, a few minutes away?" Chloe said, elbowing Oliver. "Alright. I'll see you soon then."

"That's my cue to get the hell out," Oliver laughed and Chloe gave him a small grin.

"Hurry up," she said. "I don't think I'm ready to explain what's going on to Lana or anyone right now- and hey, Mr. Billionaire don't you need to be behind a desk really soon?"

"Holy crap," Oliver said. "I didn't think it was that time already. Damn."

Chloe went to the door and opened it up to make sure Lana wasn't around yet.

"Chloe, where's my shirt?" he asked her.

"How should I know?" she told him.

"Well you _are _the one who ripped it off me," he teased, rushing around the room, gathering his stuff and looking for his shirt.

"Umm, Oliver..."

"Yeah?"

"Why are there people with cameras outside?"

"Are you serious They're out there?" he asked her as he dialled his secretary's phone number. "Hey Marie. I'm running late this morning. If anyone calls before I get there or if I have a meeting that I forgot about, work your charm and keep everyone happy until I get there, please and thanks." He said, hanging up.

"Yes I'm serious... Oh my God- seriously I tease you all the time about being a billionaire C.E.O. whose face everyone knows, how the hell did I never figure that they follow you around from time to time?... Did they follow you here last night or something? It must be you, why the hell would they be here if someone didn't see you last night?"

"Chloe, I swear, I know paparazzi is good and whatnot, but I'm better. Believe me on that. No one was following me last night"

"Well someone was looking out their window or something," Chloe said in a panic.

"Hey, I'm sorry," he said gently.

"It's not your fault," she said. "But I can't deal with this Ollie," she said, turning away from the window and back to him.

"I'll sneak out the back way."

"What, and walk about thirty feet and then they'll see you anyway? You can get out from the back but you'd have to go around to the front anyway... You're gonna take my car," Chloe said. "I got my windows tinted a few weeks back. If you can hurry out of here and get in the car then no one will know it's you because it could have been someone else's car from back there. There's a few people who park their cars back there."

"You're kidding right? Me, in _your_ car?"

"You have something against my car?" Chloe said a little defensively.

Oliver laughed, still looking for his shirt. "Will I even fit in your car? It's so tiny."

"Ha-ha Queen, very funny. You'll just have to tuck up your knees," she said. "Oh for God's sake, you finish grabbing your stuff. I'll find your shirt."

"Tuck up my knees, huh?" Oliver was laughing.

"Yes, that's right," Chloe said. "It can't be that bad, move the seat back some more. You'll be fine. Don't be a baby. And you're just going to have to deal with slumming it for the morning. I know it's not a limo or a BMW or whatever but it gets you where you need to go and I happen to love it."

Oliver was having fun riling her up. "What if something happens and I get in some kind of accident and the car is totalled?"

"Oliver, if you kill my car, I'll kill _you_," Chloe told him. "I need that car. I love that car. It gets me where I need to go and I don't know what I'd do without it."

"What if I bought you a new one? Would you still kill me?" he said, still teasing, grabbing the last of his stuff.

"Take care of my car, Oliver," Chloe warned. "I found your shirt. How the hell did it get up there?" she laughed, grabbing a chair a pulling his shirt off the corner of a hanging picture.

Just as Chloe threw the shirt at Oliver, Lana walked through the door. "Chloe, did you get famous or something? You've got cameras outside- _oh_ heyyy Oliver."

Chloe put her head in her hand. Oliver quickly put his shirt on. "Well that explains the cameras," Lana said, trying hard not to laugh. "Do you guys need a minute? I can wait outside"

"No," Chloe finally said. "Billionaire boy is late for work," she said uneasily, but not even trying to lie at this point. She knew that Lana knew what was going on and wasn't going to buy any crappy excuse she could come up with.

"I'm not going to tell anyone. Don't worry," Lana said. Chloe gave her a grateful smile.

Chloe grabbed her keys and threw them to Oliver. "I mean it, Oliver. You take care of my car, or else."

"Chloe, no worries. He ruins your car, you can just make him buy you an even better one."

"That's what _I_ told her," Oliver said. "Chloe, I cannot guarantee that nothing will happen to your car. What if my knees and feet freeze up or I get a cramp because I have to squish my legs just to get into your car. You know if they're cramped up or frozen, my feet may not make it to the break pedal on time. I just might crash."

"Oh shut up," Chloe complained. "Clark's been in my car before and it was okay, so you shush and hurry up and go and be good to my car."

"Let's hope my secretary doesn't murder me," Oliver said, heading for the door. "Nice to see you Lana."

"You too, Oliver."

"I'll see you later, Chloe," he laughed.

"Bring me back my car in one piece, and then _yes_, I _will _see you later," she said.

And then he was gone.

"Come here missy," Lana said, holding out her arms.

"Hey you," Chloe finally said with a smile, returning Lana's hug.

"Before we get to the bright and cheery, I _really _need to apologize to you, Chloe."

"Why?"

"For not coming to Jimmy's funeral to be with you."

And there it was again. Guilt and sadness rising to the surface.

Chloe shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she whispered. "You called me. That was enough."

"No it wasn't and I'm sorry. We've been friends for a long time but we've also had our ups and downs, but through everything I've _always _ admired you, Chloe. You always pull through. I was scared to see you, because I didn't know what to say to you that would mean anything- that would help you at all. I knew you'd be broken and I didn't really know how to deal with that. I'm just so used to sassy, spunky Chloe and I was scared to see you another way and know I wouldn't really be able to help. I _was _ working on something important, but I _should _ have come down. I was in a bad place of my own right then, and honestly if I had to see you down and broken- actually _see_ you like that and not be able to make a difference- when I'm so used to you just pulling through everything- I would have shut down.

"I took the easy way out. I told myself you'd have a bunch of love and support and it would be okay if I just _spoke _to you. So I'm sorry that I let my own feelings of being scared and just not being able to do anything that would really help you, and the tiny part of me that was still not ready to be back in town with Clark around, keep me from coming. But please believe me when I say that Clark was not what made me stay away. He was a factor, but he wasn't the reason. I had pushed my feelings aside at the beginning. I was _not_ going to be selfish like that. What did it matter if my heart ached a little bit, if it meant coming to see my friend and be there with her at her husband's funeral? It ultimately came down to me being a coward and I don't ever really know if I can explain it right."

Chloe just nodded. "Lana, you did better than everyone else. At least I heard your voice after the funeral. Lois time traveled so she wasn't here- but that wasn't her fault. But everyone else vanished after the funeral. I was really alone for awhile," Chloe said with her eyes closed, trying to block tears from forming.

This was ridiculous- crying on more than one occasion in such a short span of time. Chloe's control seemed to just be slipping away so easily. It was because she was interacting with people a lot more lately. More interactions just make you think more. They make you talk more.

"WHAT?" Lana practically hissed. "Why didn't you tell me that when we had talked afterwards?"

"I didn't want you to feel guilty or obligated to come see me. I'm tough- it was okay eventually. Trust me, there was already enough guilt and feeling bad and sad in the air. I can see it now. They were all dealing with their own feelings about what happened." Chloe said, trying to brush off a truly horrible time.

"Well you know what, and I _know_ I'm going to sound like a hypocrite right now- but who gives a crap how they were feeling?... This 'they' we're talking about- we're talking about Clark too, aren't we?"

And then Chloe couldn't help it, again. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she nodded. "And that's what hurt more than _anything _ after Jimmy was gone. Ollie and Dinah and Bart, we were all friends, especially Oliver and Bart and it really hurt, but Clark- my best friend leaving too- that nearly killed me for awhile," Chloe whispered. "But at least he had said goodbye, and he was watching out for the city" Chloe said, quickly wiping her eyes, so very eager to change the subject.

"Are you and Clark okay now?" Lana asked. "And Bart and Dinah?"

"I was never really mad at anyone for long for being gone, just sad. I know they had felt bad. And yeah, Dinah and Bart, we're good. We work together a lot and I see so much of Bart. Ummm Clark- well we'll be better eventually... We're okay though," Chloe said, not really wanting to go into details about the Chloe and Clark of the present day.

"I'm not going to bother to ask about Oliver. It's clear _that's _all good," Lana grinned, switching the topic slightly because she could see that she was overwhelming Chloe with the other talk.

Chloe gave her a small smile.

"Okay Chloe. You and Oliver- spill please."

"Lana there's not much to tell. We work together. We're friends and that's it," Chloe said, taking a drink of water.

"Okay then tell me, Chloe, when was the last time you and I had sex?" Lana teased and Chloe spit out her water which made Lana burst out into laughter.

"Lana, honestly. It's nothing really. He and I are friends who've kind of- It's not a relationship. He's not my boyfriend. That's about it. And no one knows about this, and I don't want them to. I know this is a sucky spill-session, but I'm really not up to talking about me and him too much, if you don't mind."

"It's okay. I get it," Lana answered kindly. "You don't owe me explanations, but if you ever do really want to talk about whatever's going on, my ears are more than ready."

Chloe grinned at her.

"Don't feel bad about it, Chloe," Lana said.

"About what?"

"Whatever you're doing with Oliver. You're not hurting anyone."

Chloe didn't really know what to say, but it was good to hear.

"Maybe I'm way off and you can tell me if I am, but it's like in those couple minutes I saw you guys, I saw you annoyed but you looked genuinely happy and then it was like you realized you were smiling or something and you brought it all down a notch. You just did it now, too."

Chloe didn't answer her. She didn't even know what to say. How could Lana notice that?

"You're different now, and it's not surprising after the year you had. You're so guarded, and you're probably thinking 'How the hell does she know all this? I've been doing such a good job not letting anyone else see how I've been changed'_. _I think it's because I haven't seen you in a year now, so I can see this difference in you, so clearly. The others who see you more often, they don't really notice because you've been perfecting your act with them for awhile... Honestly you can tell me to shut up, but I just want to say one more thing. You've forgiven everyone, even Clark it seems, though it's clear even though you won't say it- you guys are not what you used to be. To an _extent_, from the bits you would tell me over the phone, you've even forgiven _Davis. _You need to forgive _yourself_, Chloe, because you shouldn't blame yourself for everything that went down. You've got to let people in again."

Chloe just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was happy to see Lana and she knew she was trying to help, but Chloe wasn't doing anymore of this serious talking- she couldn't handle these topics so she switched the subject.

"Lana, you know the first thing we're doing today?"

"What?" Lana gave in to the switched topic. She didn't want to overwhelm Chloe.

"A few blocks away there's supposed to be this ice cream and coffee shop opening up today, in about half an hour to be precise, and guess what- everything is half price so that means-"

"Chloe and Lana are going to pig out on ice cream and drink plenty of coffee," Lana answered with a grin.

"Yup," Chloe said. "We can eat and shop and drink coffee and _you_ can tell me what's going on in Lana Land." Chloe linked her arm through Lana's and the two women headed out the door.

"Those idiots with cameras are leaving. _Awesome_," Chloe said happily.

She pulled out her phone, hearing it vibrate. She had a text message. It was from Oliver.

'At a stop light. Your mini-mobile is still intact and our friends with the cameras should be out of your hair any second now. I don't want you worrying about what you're doing or if people are hanging around and watching because of me. I won't let them interrupt your life. I made some calls, they won't be coming around your apartment anymore. No worries, I promise.'

"That's sweet. Chloe, that is _so_sweet. He's a good guy," Lana said.

"Yeah, he is," Chloe agreed with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

o-0-o-0-o Here's chapter 3. Thanks to Kimberly, GoChlollie, Raya and JamesTKent for the reviews and to those who have put the story on alert. Let me know what you think of this chapter by leaving a review. Hope you enjoy this update o-0-o-0-o

She should probably feel bad for what she and Oliver had started, but she didn't. Plain and simple, they both needed it, and it was pretty much the perfect distraction. She wondered what he would think of what she was doing today. He probably wouldn't be a fan of it, which is why she didn't tell him. She knew that she was probably crossing some kind of line with what she was doing, but it needed to be done, even if it seemed like it was going overboard.

She spotted the man with the green hat and walked over. "The money?" he asked her.

"You'll get it the second I see the stuff. It's ready to be transferred into your account. I'd rather get this done before it's pitch black out here," Chloe answered.

"Why'd you wait til today to pay?" he asked.

_How stupid is this guy? _"Like I said, I'm not paying for anything until I see it, and I've been collecting the money a bit at a time. I don't see why you care. You're going to have a bunch of money in about ten minutes if what you've been telling me is true. And don't try to screw me over. I maybe tiny, but I can _promise_ you that I can ruin your life. I know who you are, what you do, where you work, live, and went to high school. I know the name you gave me isn't your real one," Chloe said.

The man looked at her awkwardly.

"Just trying to let you know that I mean business. As long as you don't screw me over, this remains a totally professional deal and perfectly pleasant."

"Alright, well let's go then."

"Lead the way," Chloe said.

Fifteen minutes later, Chloe was transferring the money into his account. "Nice doing business with you," she told him, as he checked his account balance.

"Likewise," he answered.

"I don't mean to be rude, but do you think you could get out of here now. I've got some work to do with this," Chloe said.

"No offence taken. I'm gone."

When the man was out of sight, she sent a quick message to Bart and Victor. Moments later Victor showed up. "I hear you need a ride," Victor said in greeting.

"You _know_ I'm not even gonna try to drive this thing. I doubt my legs would even reach the gas pedal," she laughed.

They got into the truck with the tinted windows, and got to work. "I already got inside the system. The lights out here will turn off for half an hour, you just need to do your bit of magic with that now," Victor told Chloe.

"Click, click and click. 5,4,3,2,1. Instant darkness," Chloe said, thirty seconds later she got Bart's message. "Okay, Bart's outside. I'm going to open the back door and help him from there. Don't drive like a granny, but don't drive too quick either. I know Bart's quick, but it's a lot of stuff to move."

"Is this supposed to be a secret from the rest of the team?" Victor asked.

The answer was yes, because she didn't want anyone to know. The truth was Victor didn't even _really_ know what they were doing. He only knew he and Bart were helping her move some stuff. But Chloe didn't want anyone to hold any sort of blame later on if the others got mad, and if they knew they'd been keeping a secret for her, the others might not like it.

"No, it's not a secret. If you need to talk to the others about it, you can- but you don't really have any need to," she answered, as she made her way into the back of the truck.

"Hello gorgeous," Bart greeted in the dark.

"Hello speedy man. Ready to show me what you got?" Chloe chuckled.

"I would _love _ to show you what I've got, but apparently you want none of the Bartster," he answered.

"Oh shut up," Chloe laughed, smacking him. "Alright. Seriously though, you're the only one who knows exactly what we're moving tonight. I'm not gonna ask you not to tell anyone, though honestly, I really don't want anyone to know about this yet. That being said, I won't hold it against you if you feel like you need to tell Oliver. I know you don't like keeping secrets and I won't ask you to."

"You don't have to ask me not to say anything- my mouth's shut. You say that this is important, that's enough for me," Bart told her seriously.

"Thank you," she replied sincerely.

"Alright lovely lady," he said as the truck started to move, "let's do this."

Chloe handed him the first package and he took off running. He was back in a flash for the next one, and the next, and the next. Before long, he'd moved all of the items to the other place that Chloe had acquired for the purpose of storing all the stuff. "Thank you," she told Bart one last time. "I'll talk to you later."

"See you, Chloe."

Chloe moved back into the front seat with Victor. "Alright. We're all good and we've still got 4 minutes of darkness."

The truck was parked before the lights came back on. "You heading back to the tower?" he asked her.

"Yeah."

"I'll walk you back then, it's kind of dark."

"That's sweet Victor, but I'm a big girl, I can walk myself back; it's not far and not really dark at all. Don't worry about me," Chloe laughed.

"Yeah, don't worry about her. I'll get her back there in a flash," Bart laughed, popping out of nowhere.

"Bart, you nutcase! Are trying to give me a heart attack" Chloe yelped when the moving had stopped.

"Goodnight gorgeous, and Happy Valentines Day," he laughed handing her a rose, speeding away, heading back to meet Victor.

Chloe walked into the Watchtower with a laugh and punched in the security codes to the safe to pull out the passports and folders for Clark. She walked past them a couple times before she noticed the tons of roses that weren't there this morning. A big smile formed on her face and she called Oliver. She knew he had some kind of conference thing so she just left a message.

"They're gorgeous. I love them and thank you. Okay, that's all- bye," she laughed, hanging up the phone.

She threw the passports and folder onto the desk as she started to mentally berate herself for how stupidly she just acted and how stupidly happy she just became. _This is nothing. Don't_ _act like an idiot. _She realized she hadn't even taken off her jacket yet and was still holding her purse. She finally put her purse down and took off her jacket as Clark sped his way in.

"Hey. I was gonna ask you for the low-down on your V-Day with Lois, but something about you being here with me tells me it didn't go over so well," Chloe said in greeting.

"Do you have the passports and ID cards ready?" he asked her in response.

"Or we could get right down to business... All the materials you would ever need to need to escape your life and start a new one," Chloe said, handing him what he was looking for.

"Thanks Chloe. You're a lifesaver," Clark said

"If by that you mean sweet on the outside and empty in the middle- that's pretty much _exactly_ how I feel right now," she said before thinking. She really didn't want to let anything like that out.

"Look, I realize you're not on board with me helping the Kandorians."

"Yeah, well you know how it is. You find out that one of them skewers you to death in the post-apocalyptic future- you kind of lose interest," she answered.

"I know it seems like I may have overlooked some of their mistakes-"

"Mistakes. By mistakes do you mean them building a tower so they can give themselves powers to take over the world?"

"I want to lead them to a better place," he said.

"The tower will be completed in two days. Granted they haven't got the satellites up and running to change the atmosphere, but come on Clark, we both know one of them killed your father. Maybe it would just be safer if we sent the Kandorians to the phantom zone."

"I know that you're saying that because you want to protect people, but right now I want you to focus on watching my back- leave the rest of the planet to me," he told her.

Something came over Chloe. "Clark. I will protect you. No matter what it takes."

That's how a very odd night began. And it ended with a Chloe and Clark talk.

"If you were really under a command to protect me, why didn't you let me kill her?"

"Because sometimes protecting you means protecting you from yourself. You're someone we all have to believe in. Nothing can compromise that," Chloe told him.

"Zod took matters into his own hands. He killed Jor-El's murderer. It was Alia."

"So now Alia can't slay me in the future like she's supposed to. This means that the future we saw is changing."

"But there's only one way to be sure," Clark told her, and then he left.

For a minute there, Chloe had felt that old tenderness for Clark. He'd looked sad and confused and despite whatever was wrong between them, she didn't like seeing him like that.

Maybe he was as screwed up lately as she was. She shook her head and rid herself of those thoughts, and went to find some Advil.

Her head was killing her and she was still a bit sore in some places from her brawl with Tess. She set the alarms and grabbed some water and swallowed the Advil. She had no energy, so she wouldn't bother heading back to her apartment tonight. That wasn't a problem, though, Chloe had fixed up some of the many rooms in the Watchtower with beds awhile back, so there was always somewhere to crash if the couch wasn't good enough, which right now, it wouldn't be. She was feeling hot so she'd unbuttoned her shirt and left it on the dresser as she climbed into a bed and fell asleep quickly.

_What kind of a person are you? Why the hell did you marry me? Let's go a bit farther back_ _actually, why did you ever even date me? You never loved me, did you? You only kept me around_ _because I loved you while you were in love with Clark- who loved someone else. I knew you_ _didn't love me. You're a horrible person and I died because of you! You always loved everyone_ _else more than me- Clark and even Davis! You were lying that night when you said you had only_ thought_ you loved him. You were only trying to ease your conscience by letting me hear that as I_ _died. You let me hear a lie so I could die without a broken heart, so you wouldn't need to feel guilty_ _about loving someone else and getting me killed because of it. Maybe I should have just let him_ _kill you too, but then again, it's probably better that I did save you, this way I'm not stuck seeing_ _you all the time. And look at you now, you've moved on to your newest guy, Oliver Queen. Gotta_ _ask you Chloe, were you in love with _him _too when we were together. Come to think of it now,_ _were you sleeping with him? What was he doing at your apartment that day that Davis chained_ _us in the basement?_

Chloe woke up seething and just wanted to _destroy _something, anything at the moment. She couldn't stand this anymore. She grabbed a vase and threw it against one of the walls and watched it shatter and then she threw another. Then there were no more vases left and she still just wanted to destroy something. If she was actually thinking, she'd know that what she was about to do was just plain stupid, and that the only thing she would be destroying would be her hand. Luckily for her, and her hand, Oliver appeared out of nowhere and caught her fist before she smashed it into the wall.

"What the _hell_, Chloe?" Oliver said, looking from Chloe to the wall, to the broken vases on the ground.

Chloe tried to regain her cool. "No booty call tonight. Go away, please," Chloe said, just wanting him to leave her alone. She figured that comment might piss him off and make him leave. She did not want to be seen like this.

"Don't be like that," Oliver told her

"I don't want to talk about this, okay. And that was stupid for me to say. It's not cheap like that- but that's what this basically is, minus the cheap," she told him.

"Are you mad because of how we're doing this? What is it? You wanted no expectations, remember? That's what you wanted," Oliver said.

"Ollie, don't make more of this than it is. We're friends who have great sex. No more, no less. Forget my stupid comment, okay. I'm just tired and I don't want to talk. I'm sorry I'm bitching you out. I _know_ you don't deserve it, alright, I'm sorry."

"You can't act like everything's fine with you," he said.

"Oliver, I'm _serious_ I don't want to talk. If you're going to stay, you need to drop it or you need to leave."

"I'm not going to leave," he said.

"I'm guessing you're not going to drop it, either," she muttered, grabbing the shirt she'd taken off before.

"What are you doing?" Oliver asked, following her.

"I'm going back to my place," she said.

"It's 3 in the morning. It's pitch black outside. You're not walking there," he told her.

"Telling me what to do now, Oliver? You're starting to sound like an overprotective boyfriend. Dial it down," she said angrily.

"Okay, refresh my memory. What _is_ and _isn't _ allowed here? I'm not allowed to be concerned that you're miserable about something? Not allowed to be concerned that something is making you so mad that you're breaking vases and trying to smash your fist into a wall that I _guarantee_ your fist could _not _break? I thought that was kind of part of the friends and sex bit- you know the friend part. What does that leave then, just the sex?" he asked her.

"You _are _ my friend, and I'm _sorry_" she whispered. This was too much right now. "You're -" Chloe felt tears coming on and she wanted to scream.

Oliver moved toward her, but she put a hand out to stop him. "If you're planning on touching me right now- do _not _ hug me. _Please_ don't hug me," she said turning away to wipe her eyes. "I don't need sweetness right now. I need you to shut up and leave or do what you do better

than anything- make me forget everything for awhile, everything except for your body and mine...I don't want to talk," she said one last time.

Oliver looked at her. He'd never seen her like this, not even that time at her apartment. He knew that she was a different Chloe from a year before. He knew that she was a bit damaged, like he was before. But he probably saw her tonight, really saw her, for the first time in awhile. She seemed truly broken. He thought he knew where everything was coming from, but she wasn't giving anything away. He wanted to make whatever was wrong better for her, even though she'd just went to town on him and whatever it was that they were.

She went from basically calling them a classy step above a booty-call and telling him to leave, to telling him if he stayed she wanted him to screw her brains out. She was fighting some kind of battle with herself, and he felt so stupid for not noticing how bad things were for this long. Chloe stood in front of him, broken but beautiful. He was worried about her, but he still wanted her right then. Would that be taking advantage of her, even if that's what she said she wanted? It was selfish, he knew, but she wanted and apparently needed it too... _You saved me._ _I'll find a way to save you_ _too," _he promised silently as he turned her towards him.

"Okay, I'm not allowed to be sweet. Am I allowed to do this?" he asked her, not taking his eyes away from hers, as he slowly began to unbutton the shirt she had put back on.

"Yes," she whispered back after a couple seconds. Within a few seconds Oliver had her shirt on the floor and few seconds after that Chloe kissed him like it was the last thing she would ever get to do in her life, as she kicked off her skirt. He picked her up and brought her back to the bed, not taking his eyes off of her for one second. Oliver had developed a new addiction recently, and that addiction was Chloe. There wasn't much of their bodies that weren't touching, but it still wasn't close enough for either of them. He buried himself in her and she clung to him, pulling him closer still. There was no part of either Chloe or Oliver that wasn't touching or joined in some way. They literally had all of each other.

They had finally fallen asleep but Oliver didn't stay asleep for long. Chloe was asleep on top of him, and he traced a line down her back with his finger. She shivered and her eyes opened.

"Sorry," he said. "Go back to sleep."

"Don't be sorry, that feels nice," she whispered, closing her eyes again.

It had only been weeks, but he couldn't imagine not having this anymore, couldn't imagine not having Chloe like this. "No expectations, no strings" they had said, but he was starting to think he'd moved far past this being something casual.

o-o-o-o-o-o-

Chloe opened her eyes around 8 a.m., a little shocked to find herself still draped on top of Oliver. She tried to move without waking him, but that didn't work. His eyes opened pretty quickly.

"Hello," Chloe said a bit awkwardly, finally getting off of him.

"I thought you had at least another couple hours of sleep in you. Your phone rang 4 different times and you slept right through," Oliver said.

"How long have you been up?" she asked him.

"An hour, maybe two," he told her.

"You've been awake all that time, and you didn't bother to move me so you could actually get up?" Chloe asked.

"You looked really peaceful. I have nothing I need to do for a couple more hours, and you're light as a feather. It wasn't much work to just stay the way we were," he said.

"Thanks," she said, quietly, and a little nervously. "Oh crap. You said my phone rang?"

"4 separate times."

"I bet it's Lois. She's gonna _kill_ me. Can you pass me my phone?"

Oliver handed her phone over.

"3 from Lois and 1 from Clark... 4 messages. Number 1... 'It's 6:14, I just got to the apartment and you're not here. You're always still here at this time. Give me a call and let me know where you are, so I can stop being paranoid.' ...Number 2 'Okay cuz' 6:52 and I haven't heard from you. Give me a call because I'm worried about you. I know I must sound crazy right now, but I had a freaky kind of night after I saw you last and you're not here and I'm worrying about you. Give me a call so you can just laugh at me and tell me I'm nuts. Please and thanks.' ...Number 3 'Okay, that's it. It's 7:48. And I still haven't heard from you. No joke, if I don't hear from you in 20 minutes, I'm calling the cops or something. No joke... You'd better be alright.'... Number 4. 'Chloe, it's Clark. It's about 7:50, I was just calling to check how you were feeling after your brawl with Tess. Lois got a hold of me before I dialled your number, and she's flipping out. You need to call her ASAP. She thinks you've gone missing or something. Give me a call later, too- I know you're not missing, but just give me a call. Okay, bye.'

Chloe ended the messages and immediately dialled Lois. Before she let Lois get in a single word, Chloe began to talk. "I'm sorry, Lo. Listen, I'm fine, I promise. Honestly I just forgot to let you know what was up. I didn't have the best of nights. I was tired and just didn't have the energy to go back to the apartment... I know we said we'd let each other know if anything came up, and we're supposed to check in no matter how late. I promise I'll let you know next time... No, no, no. That's not fair- that's just mean. Lo, no, you're not going to do the same thing to me. Do you really want me to be worried like you were- and start running scary thoughts through my head about you?.. No, I didn't think you did," Chloe said letting out a little laugh. "Hey, you know what- you can actually call us even now. Remember 4 months ago, not hearing from you in over 24 hours- you practically had me searching the whole city for you... I love you, too. I'll see you in a few hours."

Chloe hung up the phone and yawned. Oliver looked a bit confused, so Chloe offered "Me and Lo have a system. It's a family thing and I told her last night after things calmed down that I'd see her this morning."

"I couldn't help but overhear, but what was it that Clark said about you and Tess?" Oliver said, not really caring about the Lois conversation.

Chloe hadn't planned on telling him or anyone about that, but now that he asked she had to give him and answer. "The things I do for Clark," Chloe laughed a little. "Long story short, there was some kind of fairy dust stuff that made us do whatever Clark said. Tess wanted to use Clark, I was supposed to protect Clark funnily enough, no change from the usual. We fought, we pulled guns on each other. Clark saved me from getting shot cuz Tess got the gun in the end. He nearly killed her, but I didn't let him, because that's not Clark, and that was it," Chloe said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

She suddenly remembered her mini-breakdown last night with Oliver and she decided to cover her little fit up a bit, but adding a little lie to the story. "After Clark left, well I wasn't exactly in the best of moods, so I had a couple drinks... Now that it's morning and my head's clear I think I'm remembering me having a bit of a breakdown or something. I don't remember what I said exactly, but I probably freaked you out. I was probably mean or started to cry, right? That's usually what happens on the rare occasion that I drink more than I should."

"You didn't seem like you had too much to drink," he said. "You don't have to lie to cover up showing some genuine emotion. But why didn't you tell me about Tess?"

"It wasn't important. I'm fine. It didn't matter," Chloe answered him.

"You get on the team's back when we don't report in on what's up, why should it be any different for you?" he asked her, getting a bit angry.

"I'm not one of the heroes. You guys don't need to know what's up with me all the time. You guys are the important ones, not me. You guys don't need to worry about me. You guys being safe is what counts."

"Are you for real?" Oliver asked her seriously. "You really think that what happens to you doesn't matter? You really think you don't need to be worried about?"

"I don't go out and physically save people or whatever you guys do, you guys shouldn't have to worry about me. _I've_ got me. Maybe sometimes I don't think everything through, but what happens to me is on _me_- you guys don't need worrying about me to add onto your list," Chloe told him.

"Do you know how many levels you don't make sense on?" Oliver said, exasperated. "Okay, let's start off with you saying you're not a hero- which by the way _I_ think you are in your own way. If you're not a hero, that means the heroes as you like to call us, are supposed to be looking out for _you_ when _you_ need help. Now back to reality. You _know_ you're important to us. You _know _how much you help us. We need you around, so yes it does matter, and yes we _do_ need to worry about you, too."

"I appreciate you saying that," Chloe said. "But even if all of that's true- it's not like I had time to let anyone know what was up. And I didn't plan to get into a knock out/drag-out fight with Tess."

"Listen, I know you don't want to talk about what's going on with you a lot of the time- but you need to know that you've got places to turn if you do want to let something out. I'm here, you know...You drive me nuts, did you know that?" Oliver finally said, exasperated but managing a small laugh.

Chloe smiled. "Thank you and by the way, I'm fine. I promise."

"Yeah, I figured you were," he said. "I don't think we could have done what we did last night, or this morning- technically, if you weren't," he grinned.

Chloe's jaw dropped in laughter. "That _is _true, I suppose... You should try to sleep for an hour or so before you start off your day."

"Nah, I'm good," he said.

"What did you sleep, like 2 and-a-half hours? You're gonna be a zombie," Chloe laughed.

"An hour's not going to make much of a difference."

"Okay, get up then. You're going to need lots of coffee, and luckily for you I'm like the queen of coffee," Chloe said, walking out of the room.

Chloe dialled Clark's number as she grabbed a couple mugs and put the kettle on. "Hey Clark- I'm just returning your call. I'm feeling fine. Thanks for checking in- I guess I'll talk to you later."

She freaked Oliver out big time, she knew it. She really should not keep doing this- whatever it was that they were doing, because he was sweet and she was prone to being a bitch lately.

She didn't want to engage in emotions but she was learning it was not possible. Even if she kept hers in check, she had others' to worry about... She wasn't going to give up this thing with Oliver, even though she didn't deserve it. As much as she had said she didn't want to feel, she

_needed_ to, and with Oliver it was the perfect type of feeling, it was physical. She needed him. It unclouded her mind. And though she had no intentions of this ever becoming anything serious or couple-like, she cared about him very much because he was her friend and he made her feel as if she was still some part of this living world. She needed to bend her rules a little- she needed to let herself be a little bit happy with him- needed to show him more smiles or say something nice without freaking or bitching out afterwards.

She could do that much for him, she owed him that much. It would not really be breaking her rules, she wasn't doing this for her- well the physical was for her, but the other stuff was for him and it wasn't like she was breaking her love rule either- and she'd still make herself suffer when he wasn't around. She didn't deserve to be happy and honestly, she'd become too paranoid and wary about people to have any happiness that lasted longer than a few hours at a time.

All of the sudden, what Chloe wanted more than anything else in the world was Clark. She wanted to hug her best friend and spill her guts to him. She wanted to say sorry to him and she wanted him to say sorry to her. Chloe smiled, but it wasn't a happy one. Even if she ever let herself get carried away, she could always come back to the fact that her relationship with her best friend was pretty much nonexistent.

She shook her head and grabbed two of several coffee jars. She heard Oliver make his way over. He looked really tired. She couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Ill have you wide awake momentarily, Queen," she said.

"_What _are you doing? Did you just mix two different types of coffee? That is a no-no, Sullivan," Oliver said.

"Silly man. Don't doubt me and coffee. If you don't absolutely love this, I won't drink any coffee today," Chloe grinned.

"You're that sure, huh?" Oliver laughed.

Chloe laughed and grinned and shoved the mug of her creation into his hand.

"Okay sidekick, you win," Oliver said with a smile. "This is awesome."

She loved to see him smile. She really did. "So Ollie, what do I get for you doubting me?" she teased, getting another smile.

Friends could smile at each other. That was okay, even by her rules- she told herself.

"Want a few million dollars?" he joked.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, why don't you spend a few million dollars in pocket change on some amazing computer stuff and security for this thing I like to call Watchtower- Oh wait, silly me- you _already_ did that," she grinned.

"You need a few million more, you just let me know and it's yours," he told her with a chuckle, but being serious at the same time.

"I don't want your money. I was just kidding," she said.

"I know," he answered. "So," he began teasing again, "If you don't want me for my money, what _do _you want me for?"

"Your body, of course," Chloe teased back.


	4. Chapter 4

o-0-o-0-o Here's chapter 4. Thanks a lot to requeen11, Mari, GoChlollie, katibous, and blue red wing for reviewing and to those who have favourited and put the story on alert. I really appreciate it. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

Chloe had experienced a lot. She'd been in situations most people could only imagine. She'd seen just about everything. Not much could surprise her. There's not much that she could not see happening to her. She could see herself getting too caught up in something dangerous someday and getting kidnapped, she knew there was always a possibility of death in the business she was in with the heroes. She knew all of this and could possibly see it happening someday, yet somehow Chloe Sullivan had _never_ thought she'd be shopping with Dinah, a.k.a. The Black Canary, for fishnet stockings. Never.

Dinah was in the area and called up Chloe to get together for a bit. Over the past couple years the two women had become friends, but they hadn't seen each other in person since Jimmy's funeral. Chloe had suspected it was because she was feeling guilty about her part in the Doomsday debacle, but it was nice to see her. At the beginning Chloe held a little bit of anger towards her and Bart and Oliver for just up and vanishing after Jimmy's funeral, but she mostly understood now that they just needed to get away and be with their guilt. She really hoped she wouldn't try to apologize. Chloe didn't want to think about it. God knows she dreamt about it more than enough.

"Black or red?" Dinah asked Chloe, holding up two different pairs of fishnet stockings.

"Stick with the classic black. You can't go wrong," Chloe said with a laugh.

Dinah looked serious suddenly. "I should have said this months and months ago and I'm sorry that I've been such a coward and that we just vanished. But I need you to know that I am _so_ sorry for my part in-"

And there it was.

"Dinah, don't, okay? It's not your fault. I don't blame you. You don't have to apologize to me. I don't need to hear it," Chloe said kindly, trying not to react strongly.

"No, I _do_ need to apologize but I imagine you're probably sick of hearing the same apology after awhile," Dinah said.

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.

"I mean Oliver and Bart have probably already apologized. I imagine it all starts to sound the same."

"No, actually you're the first one to apologize to me from our hero gang. But you guys don't have to," Chloe told her.

Dinah legitimately looked shocked. "They didn't apologize to you? Seriously?" she sounded angry. "Then I'm even _more_ sorry than before. They should have said sorry to you.

They really should have. Couple of cowards they are, and me too- and you call us heroes."

"Hey, come on," Chloe said softly. "I don't blame you guys and you and Bart were basically just going along with Ollie anyway. You don't need to apologize, but if it means anything to you, I forgive you and I know the guilt you guys must have felt... Okay, now that that's out of the way, we are going to load up on coffee before we do anything else. And no more serious talks."

"You and your coffee. You have a problem. You _do _know that, right Chloe?" Dinah laughed.

"I'd like to see you the day there is no coffee around," she teased.

"No, you really wouldn't," Chloe laughed. "I _need _my coffee. It helps to keep me smiling rather than yelling."

"Then we should just unleash an un-coffeed up you on the boys every once in awhile when they're being idiots," Dinah grinned.

Chloe laughed back as she grabbed Dinah's arm and steered her to the nearest coffee place, not wanting to talk about the past or feelings of guilt.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Chloe hadn't thought she was tired, but evidently she had been. She had spent four hours just hanging out with Dinah and then she came back to Watchtower and worked the afternoon away. It had been about six p.m. when she felt her eyes get droopy so she had decided just to take a quick half hour nap. That half-hour had apparently turned into three whole ones. Her watch said it was 9 o'clock.

Oliver would probably be there in an hour or so and she had already finished doing what she was going to do three hours back. She decided not to start anything new that was Watchtower related for the night and decided to finally do a bit of a cleanup at Watchtower. It wasn't messy at all- but she still had so many boxes with so much information-filled paper in them that seriously needed to be organized or thrown out, so she decided she'd tackle that task for the hour before Oliver would get there.

"Oh joy" Chloe muttered out loud. She forgot that the boxes were so high up. She had gotten Oliver and Clark to get them off the floor and high up because she had wanted to paint a certain portion of the Watchtower. The guys had used a ladder to get the boxes up to where they were- yeah, they were that high up, and now she wondered why she had made them put them so high.

Chloe walked over to where she had kept the ladder and proceeded to bring it over. It was huge next to Chloe. It was about 13 feet high and kind of heavy, but movable if she just kind of dragged/pulled it - she just wasn't particularly looking forward to it. Chloe slowly sort of brought the ladder down so that what would be the top rung rested on her shoulder, and the rest of the ladder trailed behind. With both hands holding on to the part of the ladder that was on her shoulder she began to drag it to where she needed it to be.

"Ouch!" she complained as she stepped on something that hurt her bare foot. She was about to bend down a bit to see what she'd stepped on but she never did end up doing that.

"Here, let-" someone started to say, appearing in front of her suddenly.

Chloe got so freaked out that she sorted of rammed the part of the ladder she was holding right into the person's head.

"Holy crap, Chloe. I'm just trying to help," Oliver moaned.

"Help? By giving me a heart attack?" Chloe retorted. And then she looked at his face and saw that she'd hurt him. "Oh my- crap. I'm sorry," she said. "Oh man. I'm _really_ sorry."

Chloe let the ladder drop and grabbed Oliver by the hand, dragging him over to the couch. "Sit," she ordered, sounding worried.

"It's fine. Don't worry," he said. "It's not bad," he told her, trying to calm her down.

"It's not fine and _yes _ it is bad. I just smashed you in the head with a freakin' ladder... Shit, what if you have a concussion?" she said, talking a mile a minute. She grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and told him to hold it against his head.

"Chloe, I don't have a concussion," Oliver told her, trying not to laugh. His head really _did_ hurt like hell but he couldn't help but want to laugh at nervous Chloe. She was really cute when she was freaking out.

"You wouldn't know if you have a concussion for sure or not. I'm calling Emil to come check you out," she said.

"No you're not," he said, getting up.

Chloe pushed him back down on to the couch and dialled Emil.

"He'll be here soon," she said, picking up the ice pack that Oliver hadn't bothered to hold against his head.

She sat down beside him and handed him the ice pack which he wouldn't take.

"You're so stubborn," she told him, holding it against his head herself.

Oliver just laughed.

"You know, I'm pretty sure most people who get their head bashed in by a ladder don't laugh about it," Chloe told him.

"I can't help it. You're making me laugh."

"Oh yes, I'm just full of the funny, Mr. Concussion," Chloe answered, calming down a bit, a smile starting to play at her lips. "Maybe I didn't give you a concussion- but let's just let Emil check you out."

"Aww. You're cute when you're freaking out," Oliver teased.

"Only when I'm freaking out?" she laughed, sticking out her tongue, which made Oliver laugh more. "Okay, so seriously, where the hell did you come from? I didn't hear you come in. You really freaked me out."

"Well I figured I kind of scared you when I got a ladder in the face," Oliver said with mock seriousness. "I've actually been here for about an hour. I finished what I was doing a lot earlier than I thought so I came over to hang earlier than planned, but you were sleeping."

"Where were you?" Chloe asked. "I didn't see you."

"I was sitting here when you got up and when you walked over to get the ladder. Speaking of the ladder, you do know that you still wouldn't have been able to reach the boxes, right? From the top rung I could _just_ reach where we'd put the boxes, so no way were you getting at those, short-stuff," he laughed.

"Shut up," Chloe said. "And you were _not_ sitting there."

"I swear. I really was. You just walked by without a word," he chuckled.

"So why didn't you say something then? You didn't think it was weird that I just walked by and didn't say anything."

"I figured you were pissed off at me for something, so I just played along," he told her.

"And what have you done that I'd be pissed off about?" Chloe asked.

"I have no clue. I figured you'd let me know," Oliver said, and Chloe laughed.

"Canary seemed pissed at me before, though I don't know why, and I know you were with her this morning and afternoon so I figured maybe you were pissed too... Do you have any clue what I did to piss her off?" Olive asked with a laugh.

Chloe did know, but she didn't want to talk about that.

"So I suppose you had fun watching me with the ladder?" Chloe laughed.

"Well that's kind of when I figured you didn't see me. If you were pissed off you could have had a great opening for something like 'You're supposed to be a hero. You could at least get off your ass and move this ladder for me,''' he said and Chloe laughed harder. "Well then you know when I knew _for sure _ that you didn't know I was there?" he asked her, not waiting for an answer. "When the ladder met my head."

"I really _am_ sorry," Chloe said, trying to be serious and not laugh. She was worried a few minutes ago, but now all she could do was laugh because the situation really was kind of funny.

"You're getting really good at that, you know," Chloe said.

"At getting my head bashed in?" Oliver joked. "Yes, my adventures as Green Arrow have taught me how to take a good shot to the head."

Chloe smiled. "Actually, I was talking about calming me down," she said, taking the ice pack off his head to look at where she hit him, before putting it back.

"So it worked then?" he grinned. "You're calm, cool and collected Chloe again?"

Chloe gave him a nod.

"Ooh, Emil's here. That was fast," Chloe said as she watched the cameras.

"Okay, so what exactly happened?" Emil asked.

"Chloe hit me in the head with a ladder," Oliver grinned.

"Just make sure I didn't give him a concussion," Chloe said, picking up her phone to see who was calling her. It was Lois.

Chloe left the guys to it and answered her phone. "I see the name Lois on my phone, but I don't think I know a Lois- oh wait, I think I did, a long, long time ago. And that was the one that Clark was asking me about, too," Chloe answered with a grin.

"So much for a couple days, huh?" Lois replied with a laugh. "But at least I let you guys know it would be taking longer than expected."

"I _will_ give you that, Lo," Chloe laughed. "But evidently you weren't specific enough for Clark. He kept asking when you were coming back."

"Speaking of guys, my dear cousin, you have a lot of spilling to do."

"What?" Chloe asked abruptly.

"There's been a guy in this apartment and I'm not talking about Clark," Lois said, and Chloe knew, even without seeing her that she was grinning. "Tell me all about this new guy and just please tell me you didn't get horizontal on _my _ bed"

"Lo, there is no guy," Chloe said, trying to sound convincing.

"Ha!" Lois said. "Oh yes there is and I _know _ it."

"I love you, but you're nuts," Chloe told her.

"Fine, fine. You don't have to tell me now. You can have your little secret, _for now. _ I _will_ find out who the guy is though, Chlo- you can count on it," Lois promised cheerfully.

"There's nothing to find out, but while I've got you on the phone- don't freak out tomorrow morning if I'm not at the apartment. I didn't get murdered or anything. I just might end up staying here tonight. I've got a lot to catch up on a bunch of stuff."

"Where is _here_, Chloe?" Lois asked sweetly and Chloe wanted to laugh.

"Work."

"You're going to sleep at work?" Lois asked sweetly again.

"Probably," Chloe answered.

"And who's going to be joining you? Is the new boyfriend a co-worker or is he your boss?" Lois asked, ditching the sweetness, wanting answers.

"You're crazy, did you know that? Goodnight Lo. Love you. I'll see you tomorrow," Chloe said, hanging up.

Lois had hit it right on the head. But it wasn't really either/or. Oliver _technically_ was her boss, but he was also just her co-worker.

About fifteen seconds later, Chloe's phone was ringing again. This time the name and phone number were blocked. "Hello," she answered.

"Miss Sullivan. I have a message from your beloved, beautiful older cousin, Lois," said what was clearly Lois goofing around, trying to sound like a man.

Chloe laughed as she said, "And what is this message from my gorgeous cousin?"

"The message is that you can't hide from her. She will find out."

"Goodnight crazy lady," Chloe said.

"Muahaha. She will find out."

"Gotta work on your evil laugh, Lo."

"It's not so good?" Lois asked.

"Nope, you could definitely improve," Chloe grinned.

"Okay, I suppose I'll leave you alone now. And maybe I'll work on the evil laugh," Lois said. "Call me if you need me. Love you." And then she hung up.

Chloe walked back into the other room and saw that Emil was heading out.

"So?" Chloe asked.

"Don't think he has a concussion. But if you're not busy, maybe you should hang out with him for a bit and just give me a call if anything seems wrong," Emil said.

"Yeah, okay. I guess I can spare some time to hang out," Chloe answered, keeping a straight face.

"See you guys later," Emil said, leaving. As he left Chloe set up all the alarms and made sure everything was locked.

"Aww. I feel so special. It's nice to know you can spare some time for me," Oliver said.

"Did you leave anything behind at the apartment the last time you were there?" Chloe asked him.

"No, I don't think so," he told her. "Why?"

"Lois is back and she's certain that I've had a guy in the apartment. Oh and she's quite thrilled about it too, she just really hopes that we didn't get horizontal on _her _bed. So either my cousin is some sort of freaky genius, which she very well could be, or you left something telling behind," Chloe said, not angrily, but sort of amused.

"I think you've got to check off the freaky genius box. I'm almost 100 percent sure, I didn't leave anything behind," Oliver said. "Did she grill you like crazy?" he asked with a laugh, knowing how persistent Lois could be.

"She grilled me but she only for awhile. But essentially she's got the whole thing right, though I denied everything."

"What else did she ask you?" Oliver asked with a grin.

"Well since I was kind of stupid and said I might just stay at work tonight, since I needed to give her a heads up if I didn't go back to the apartment tonight, she's come to the conclusion that I'm either sleeping with my boss or a co-worker," Chloe said, just shaking her head, laughing softly.

"You _know _ she's not going to stop bugging you about it, right?" Oliver said.

"Of course I know that. We've got the same blood after all. It's the Lane in us. If there's something _I _want to find out, I don't give up. She's the same. But I'm sure I'll think of something to throw her off... Okay anyway, Mr. Apparently _Not_ Concussed, I was thinking before that you could don some sunglasses and we could grab your bike and go eat at some dive because I was hungry, but I think that's a no-no right now. I vote we stay here and you watch the Hangover with me because I still haven't seen it and everyone says it's hilarious."

"Sidekick, you know you can just admit you want to have me in close proximity to the couch or bed for when you're undoubtedly going to want to jump my bones," Oliver teased.

Chloe smirked. "Get over yourself, Queen."

Oliver just laughed.

"And plus, I don't know if I could take advantage of you like that," Chloe said dramatically. "After all, you still _might_ have a concussion, and you may not be thinking with 100 percent clarity."

"Oh, how sweet of you, Chloe," Oliver answered and Chloe just laughed some more.

"I'll be back, I'm going to fish out a frozen dinner from the freezer. Find the movie for me, would you? You hungry, you want me to grab you a dinner too?" She asked.

"No, I'm good, but if you want to pop some popcorn I wouldn't say no to that."

"Okay," she said, heading to the freezer.

She picked out a chicken and pasta entree and threw it in the microwave and then she grabbed a bag of popcorn and put it in the other microwave. Yes, there were two microwaves, well actually, three, and it was very handy at times like this.

She had done a lot of laughing today, definitely more than she had in awhile and she felt happy, which she knew she shouldn't. But today was a day that she didn't care about guilt. She knew it would be back tomorrow, but all she was thinking about was right now and right now she wasn't thinking about everything bad that had happened. Right now she was just thinking about having a good time with Oliver. She told herself it was okay to be happy today, even she could be allowed some happiness from time to time- and immediately after she thought that, she was a little bit surprised with herself for actually having had that thought, but she shook it all off. No more thinking tonight.

"Do you actually have the movie, or are we looking for it on TV?" Oliver called from the couch.

"On TV, just go to the movie channel," she answered. "Hey, do you want any of that nasty topping stuff you bought for the popcorn last time?"

"It's not nasty- you're just crazy if you can't taste how awesome it is- and yes I would love some."

Chloe laughed. "I think you're the one who's a little crazy my friend, but it's okay, I won't tell anyone. You want me to grab you something to drink, or are you good?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute. Forward the preview thingies, if you don't mind. I wanna get straight to the funny."

Chloe grabbed a fork and stuck it in the dinner box and threw the popcorn in a bowl and brought the nasty topping stuff with her too. She handed the bowl to Oliver and then got comfy on the couch, digging into the pasta dinner.

"This better be as good as everyone's making it sound," Chloe said as the movie started.

"Well, even if it sucks, at least you still have the pleasure of my company," Oliver said and Chloe grinned.

When the movie was over and they'd turned in on to an old movie they'd both seen twice, Chloe started to get cold. She started to get up and Oliver asked "Where are you going?"

"I'm cold," she said. "Going to grab a sweater."

Oliver lightly grabbed her hand and pulled her back down to the couch, but this time right into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her in sort of a backwards hug and said with a grin "I'm warm. I can keep you warm"- and Chloe physically tensed up, which Oliver felt.

You'd think after having a whole bunch of sex with him, that something like _this _wouldn't phase her, but somehow this seemed so much more intimate, so much scarier, and perhaps that much more wrong in the big picture that was now her life.

"Relax Sidekick," he whispered from behind into her ear.

Chloe took a deep breath. She actually _wanted_ to just relax and go with it. She had said she was allowed to stop grieving and being guilty just once in awhile, right? She'd always go back to her own punishment- but this, particularly with Oliver was probably too much- too intimate- too close- and it was _Oliver_. Oliver who had been making her smile, Oliver who she'd been sleeping with- Oliver who was her friend, and Oliver, who though she didn't blame him for Jimmy's demise, orchestrated Davis and herself being brought back, which eventually led to Jimmy's death. Her arrangement with Oliver had kept her feeling alive and somewhat connected to the world. Yes she was having sex with him, but it wasn't about being in love and having someone to have tender moments with- that's probably why she had told herself it was okay to be happy with him once in awhile, because this arrangement wasn't started to be _about_ that.

Chloe knew that a normal person wouldn't be flipping out so much about something like this, but she wasn't normal anymore- she had a big part in the death of her husband, and she was filled with guilt. She had made mistakes and the cost was Jimmy's life.

_It's not _all _your fault and you've been grieving and full of guilt for a long time now. You_ _don't _have_ to keep going like this. You've paid your penance. You've punished yourself enough_ _and you don't have to keep Oliver in the category you're keeping him in. He doesn't need to be_ _associated with Jimmy and guilt and punishment. Just let go. Let the guy hold you. It doesn't_ have _to mean more than that. _

A voice sounded in her head, a voice she did not usually listen to. Maybe, just maybe, she could let go a bit more. Maybe she could listen to it- just for tonight.

He whispered in her ear one more time, "You let me get _so_ much closer than this. You literally let me _in. _So why does _this_ scare you so much?" He knew this was too close for her. He knew this was probably not part of Chloe's list of things allowed on the list for their arrangement. Maybe he didn't like the arrangement anymore. Maybe he wanted a bit more from her.

_You know a part of you wants to just let him hold you for a bit, and it's _okay, _Sullivan. It's okay. _The voice sounded inside Chloe again. _It's okay to just let whatever might happen, happen. If you want, it doesn't _have_ to mean anything more than just letting him close for awhile. If you want, you can let it mean more. _Chloe took a deep breath and gave in to the voice.

She didn't answer Oliver, she really didn't know what to say, but she did relax against him and after a few minutes she leaned her head back a bit and rested it against his chest and finally said softly, "You _are _warm."

This earned her a little chuckle from Oliver. And they watched the movie for about 20 minutes in comfortable silence until Oliver said, "Let's get out of here."

"And go where?" Chloe answered.

"My-" he started.

"Did you forget that you possibly have a concussion?" Chloe said.

"We both know I don't. It's been over two hours and I feel fine. Emil even said from the get-go he thought I was fine."

"Maybe," Chloe said. "Where do you want to go, anyway? It's practically midnight."

"Come back with me to my place," he said to her.

She'd been to his place before, but she hadn't been there since she and Oliver had started sleeping together- it was always Watchtower or her place- _her turf_.

She was going to say no.

_You take a lot from this guy, and yeah, you give back in your own reserved way- but it's always _your_ way. Give him a bit. Go with him. Just say _yes.

"Okay," she finally said, getting up and pulling him along with her.

She grabbed a sweater, punched some keys on the keyboard and headed for the doors.

Before she knew it, she was on the back of Oliver's motorcycle, holding tight.

When they got to his place Oliver was actually kind of surprised she had said yes. He thought he'd really have to coax her into it and she could read it on his face.

"Well I did hit you in the head with a ladder-I figure I can give you what you want, tonight. It's only fair I let you have your way with me after what I did to you," she said, completely unaware of how it sounded.

Oliver gave her a big smirk, closing the door behind them as they got in. It was then that Chloe realized what she'd said and she couldn't help but laugh.

"That's _very _nice of you," he said. "And I _do _ intend to have my way with you," he grinned.

"Then what are you waiting for?" she asked him with a grin and a shake of her head. "I'm right here."

Oliver groaned and closed the distance between them in one stride. He leaned down and kissed her, and as per usual clothes were shed quickly after. Chloe wasn't even sure how they'd made it to the couch. The only things she did know at the moment was that Oliver had the nicest, softest, carpets in the world and one of the sturdiest tables ever made. They'd been on top of that very table and rolling around on the carpets long enough for Chloe to state this as fact.

All was quiet but even with her eyes closed, she knew Oliver had woken up. She pretended to still be asleep, she didn't know why exactly, but she did. Maybe she just needed some time with absolutely no talking, a chance to just think about everything that night.

Oliver tried to move on the couch without waking her up. She looked peaceful right now, and she rarely looked peaceful in her sleep. He could usually tell that she struggled and worried, even in her sleep, and he didn't want to wake her up from a peaceful sleep- not for anything.

Chloe could tell he was trying not to wake her up, so she knew that he thought she was asleep. When he finally got off the couch she didn't hear him move and she wondered what he was doing. Was he staring at her, watching her sleep? And then her heart went out to him because she _knew _he was. What did this man want from her, _really_? Why did he care? Why did he even try with her? He wasn't broken anymore and she was so far from being fixed that it didn't make sense.

She didn't expect that he would pick her up ever so gently and apparently effortlessly- she tried to look like she was really still asleep. Not even a minute later, Chloe felt herself being lowered into the softest and most comfortable bed ever. She wondered if it was his. She felt a warm comforter being put over her and then a body in the bed next to her. Yes, this was his bed.

"Hope you're having sweet dreams, Sidekick," he whispered. "It's nice to see you peaceful. Goodness knows you deserve a bit of peace."

Chloe didn't make a sound. She was thankful for the darkness, as a tear rolled down her face.


	5. Chapter 5

o-0-o-0-o Chapter 5 is here. Thanks to those who favourites and put the story on alert and a big thanks to Kimberly, GoChlollie, redqueen11, kim, Raya, blue red wing and ronissooomine for reviewing last chapter. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

2 days later...

_Oliver walked into her apartment, turned up the music and walked up to Chloe._

"_I like where this is going Romeo, but you might want to put on some softer music,"_ _Chloe had_ _said._

"_It's not a booty call," he said. And that sort of completely stopped Chloe for a minute._

"_I think Tess Mercer might be listening," he continued. "She's up to something- it involves you._ _She came by my office today, with evidence that someone's been siphoning money from my_ _company... You're stealing from me," he said, not taking his eyes away from hers._

_Chloe lowered her eyes. "It's not like that," she said quietly._

"_Right," Oliver answered, their faces only a few inches from each other. "A lot of women_ _have used me for my money. I never expected it from you," he said._

"_I wasn't stealing from you, Oliver," Chloe replied, trying to stay calm and not lash out_ _at him. "I was borrowing the cash. I'm buying insurance for the entire planet."_

_o-o-_

"_Kryptonite weapons? This is what you've been spending all my money on? Something_ _that can kill Clark?"_

"_They're to protect all of us, including Clark," she replied to Oliver. "From Zod and all_ _those other Kandorians."_

"_I don't understand. I thought you were helping set them all up with licenses and_ _passports."_

"_All the IDs I gave Clark have computer tracking chips in them... I wanna keep an eye on_ _the visitors from another planet," she said._

"_Well, welcome to 1984, the Sullivan edition."_

"_Look Ollie. I'm sorry, okay? But I didn't have a choice. Our friend's moral compass has_ _gotten us lost more than once. I'm not okay with just sitting back and trusting Clark again," she_ _said._

_No matter how much I want to, she added silently, to herself._

_o-o-_

"_Figured Tess was up to something when she gave me the tip about all the money that_ _you- um-_borrowed_,__ so I moved your stock pile," Oliver said._

"_So what other dirty little tricks do you think the Amazing Mercer has up her sleeve?"_ _Chloe asked._

"_It's too soon to tell. Clark saw a future that we wanted to run away from. He said Tess_ _saw the same future- maybe she wants to take us there," Oliver said._

"_Which is why we need those weapons now, more than ever. Where'd you put them?"_

"_They're in a safe place."_

"_Are you keeping me in the dark because I lied to you?" she asked him, annoyed._

"_Well you know, Chloe, you can't have a set of rules for yourself and then a whole other_ _set for everyone else," Oliver told her._

"_Clark's in the Kandorian family now and I don't want to let his loyalties lead us into_ _another Doomsday scenario," she said._

"_Neither do I," he answered._

"_So do you _really _ think we should tell Clark everything?"_

"_Absolutely," he answered her. "But only when the time is right."_

_o-o-o-o-o-o-_

She wanted to kick his ass right now, she really did. She'd left him not long after he decided he wasn't going to tell her where he took her kryptonite weapon stash. Technically, she bought it with his money, so it was kind of his- but he had made her mad. But that wasn't the only reason she was seething.

She supposed she didn't have the right to be all that upset about his booty call comment seeing as she used the term awhile back to try to piss him off and make him leave. It shouldn't have hurt, but it did, and _that _ irritated her to no end. Why did she let him get close enough for that to hurt? She was nearly positive that he was using the term in the same way she had used it, to cause a sting, to hurt her a little bit, but the icing on her pissed off cake was when he had basically accused her of using him for his money.

After he wouldn't tell her where the weapons were, she had pretty much left very quickly because she didn't want him to know how pissed off she was, all of the day's events just building up with her. She left because she didn't want to show him any emotion that was too deep and because she didn't have a right to really be mad about anything. She had decided awhile back that she didn't matter all that much- but she'd been stupid recently, she had let go and she had let herself start to feel. What she wanted and how she felt weren't things that were important and she had suddenly remembered that. So she left. She didn't want to talk to him right now.

She arrived at Watchtower and set up the alarms. She didn`t want company and at least with the alarms she`d have warning if Clark or Ollie decided to drop by. She didn`t want to see Clark at the moment because she_was _feeling guilty about the weapons that he didn`t know about. Those weapons were not for use against him but she did, deep down feel a bit guilty, but he was blind when it came to the Kandorians and she didn`t want to risk everyone else`s safety.

She signed on to her computers and got online with AC. `What`s up Aquaman?"

"Hey, I just wanted to give you a heads up that I'll be there soon, earlier than planned. I'll see you in a bit."

_Shit! _Chloe totally forgot that they were having a group meeting today.

Chloe wasn't exactly in the mood for company. She didn't want to see anyone.

Chloe sighed, someone was coming into Watchtower, the alarms let her know. She checked the camera and saw that it was Oliver and he was approaching her fast. _Oh great. _For whatever reason seeing him right now just fuelled her anger even more. Chloe couldn't keep doing this. She couldn't keep telling herself to act and feel a certain way and then naturally act and feel another.

When Oliver walked in, he and Chloe stared at each other without saying a word for a good five minutes. Chloe could see that Oliver was waiting for her to say something first, but she wasn't going to. She walked over to the kitchen space and started to make herself some coffee, letting another five minutes go by in silence.

After ten minutes of silence Oliver had had enough, so he opened his mouth, and neither of them noticed that they had guests because no one had reset the alarm.

"Okay, so obviously you're _way_ more pissed at me than you let on before. We seemed okay when you left. You're getting _really good_ at hiding things, Chloe. Really good at faking," Oliver said.

Not wanting to be around him right now and not wanting to see anyone else either, Chloe declared a decision she made in a split second. "I'm taking the rest of today off and tomorrow, too."

"Why, what are you doing?" Oliver asked "You never take time off."

She felt like she was being accused and interrogated and her anger kept rising.

"What I do on my days off isn't your business, _boss,_" Chloe said with false sweetness as she sent Emil a message telling him she was taking a couple days off so to be prepared to help out as Watchtower if the team needed it.

"You never take time off," Oliver said again, confused.

"Well there's a first time for everything," she answered. "Speaking of first times, follow me," Chloe said, on a roll now- letting all the bitchiness out- clearly not being In-Control-Chloe.

Her ideas and plans for not showing any emotion had gone out the window. If she was being honest, it was getting really hard to keep everything in check all the time.

She walked about 30 feet and stopped. "I believe _our_ first time was right about here. So my question for you right now is do you think _that _was when I started to use you for your money?"

"Chloe-"

"Because if I remember correctly, _you _started it that night. You were the instigator of this long series of _booty calls._"

"Chloe-"

"But then again _I_ did jump your bones at my apartment that day- which is when it all _really_ started. So maybe I decided _then _ to use you for your money. What do you think?" Chloe said closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

That was enough. She was freaking out on him after she had told herself she wouldn't. It was getting hard to be emotionless all the time, even if that's what she deserved, even if she said a few minutes back that once again, she didn't matter . He wasn't supposed to be able to hurt her, this wasn't serious.

And so what if he hurt her? It shouldn't matter. That was not something that was important. Things that were important were Jimmy and Davis being dead and protecting people and helping her heroes. Her feelings weren't important she said to herself, trying to convince herself and calm herself down.

Her feelings had lead to a lot of trouble in the past and she just wanted to rid herself of them- that would be the best thing. If she couldn't rid herself of them she should just be content with letting them drown her. If they were hurt, she _should_ just shut up and let herself suffer. It was what she should do, but she even screwed that up too. She had screwed a lot up...

"I'll see you in a couple days, Oliver," she said.

"Chloe-"

Chloe took another deep breath, trying to remain calm. "Oliver, seriously- please don't touch me. I don't have the energy to do this right now," she said as she tried to walk away again.

He got in her way as she tried to walk away, and she had a flash of the year before. A situation similar to this. It wasn't pleasant.

"_You know, Chloe, I thought about calling the police._ _Instead I figured I'd give you a chance to explain yourself before I let them haul you off to prison_ _for harbouring a serial killer"_

"_I shouldn't have left Davis here alone. This would never have happened if I was here._ _This is all my fault."_

"_When did you become one of the bad guys, huh?"_

"_For whatever reason I calm the beast inside him. He needed me."_

"_He needed you. So the needs of the cornfield killer outweigh the needs of the rest of the_ _world, is that it?"_

"_Oliver, it's complicated," Chloe had said, trying to walk away._

"_It's complicated. Yeah, that's the same thing your psychopathic boyfriend told me."_

"_Look, either I keep him with me or let innocent people die."_

"_Come on. Chloe, if you really believe that you would have handled things a little bit_ _differently, don't you think? Instead what do you do, you cook him dinner, you fluff his pillow-_ _you rock him to sleep."_

"_Okay look, I understand what it looked like from the outside, but trust me, I had the_ _whole thing under control."_

"_Chloe, you didn't have anything under control. Speaking as Davis' next victim I can tell_ _you- your plan was seriously flawed... How did you think this was gonna end, Chloe?"_

"_I'll find him okay? I'll fix this."_

"_No. You won't. I think you've done enough. We'll let Clark handle it from here."_

"_Wait, Oliver, where is Clark?"_

"_He took Davis- he's finally gonna finish this."_

At the memory, Chloe felt anger rising and control moving farther and farther from her. She knew she was going to do something rash if she didn't get away from him right now.

"Chloe, seriously, how did you expect me to react? I was mad and shocked and I have every right to be. And the weapons, Chloe, I know they're for the Kandorians, but Clark _is_ one of them, so those _are_ for him. You bought weapons to kill Clark," Oliver said. And as he said this, saying she bought weapons to kill Clark, his words from a year ago followed immediately in Chloe's head again.

"_When did you become one of the bad guys, huh?"_

That was it. Chloe's open palm met Oliver's face with quite a bit of force for someone so small. His cheek stung from where she hit him.

"Listen to me _very _ carefully Oliver," Chloe said firmly. "I may not like Clark very much all the time these days. There's hurt and pain and there's something _wrong_ between us, but Clark, for better or worse is a part of me that won't ever go away because as much anger as there is, he is _family_ to me. I can hardly see it anymore most of the time and that's probably equally my fault because I've been doing _a lot_ of pushing him away, but he's my best friend. _Somewhere _ in there is my best friend, my best friend who I have been through _everything_ with. Even when I've done things that look shady, I've protected Clark with _whatever _ I have. I put him before Jimmy and I put him before Da- I would _die_ for Clark.

"That _still _ hasn't changed even though I sometimes don't even want to look at him or trust him, even though he and I are broken. I can be _so _ mad at him, I could even hate him for a little while, but I've _never_ wished unhappiness on Clark. I've never wanted him to be unhappy. I've always wished him happiness which is why I _love_ that he's in love with Lois- so how the _hell _would I want to _kill_ him?" Chloe knew she was about two seconds away from crying.

"I don't think you can really even say anything worse to me after this. You basically called me a _prostitute _and then you tell me that I bought weapons that were for _killing my best_ _friend._ Move, Oliver. I _really_ need to get away from you right now."

Oliver didn't even know what to say. And he was kind of worried about Chloe right now. She looked like she was seconds away from hyperventilating and crying, and he hadn't seen her this angry in a while. He didn't want to let her leave, but she looked like she really needed to get out of there so he finally moved aside and Chloe immediately started to walk away.

"Chloe, I didn't mean-"

As she left she said "If you need a sub for me tomorrow, just call Emil. I already messaged him so he knows what's up. If something happens that you guys _really _ need me for, something Emil can't do for whatever reason, you can call me. But if everything is fine here, _please_ do _not_ call me. I don't want to talk to you unless I really have to right now. Remember to lock up and set the alarms whenever you leave."

Both Chloe and Oliver's jaws dropped a bit when they finally noticed they weren't alone and something inside of Chloe sunk, she felt like she was going to fall. A.C. and Bart stood in front of the door looking stunned. Chloe thought that she might pass out.

"What the hell? Are you two eavesdropping?" Oliver yelled at the guys.

"Shut up, Oliver!" Chloe screamed at him. "Leave them alone," she said, taking a deep breath. "A.C. hey," she said softly. "I'll see you around, okay?" she said, embarrassed for what they heard.

He nodded. "Sure. Is everything okay?" he asked her gently.

"Don't worry about me. Just keep what you heard to yourself please," she told him and then turned to Bart. "Bart, come with me for a minute."

And then Chloe walked out the first set of doors and leaned against the wall for a minute.

Bart touched her shoulder and sounded worried when he asked. "Are you sure you're okay? Cuz if you're not, I'll blow this meeting off and get you to wherever you wanna go."

Chloe gave him a little smile. "Thank you," she said. "But like I told A.C, you don't need to worry about me. I just wanted to tell you that Arrow knows about the weapons, but I don't think he has any clue you or Vic helped. So you don't open your mouth about that. If he does know, you let _him _ be the one to bring it up to you. I don't want him getting mad at you at all so if somehow he brings this up, which I don't think he will- you don't tell him that you knew what I was sending you off with."

"You don't need to worry to worry about _me _ 'Licious-" Bart started.

"Bart, I'm serious. You put it all on me. You tell him you were just moving packages for me. I don't want you guys pissed at each other. I don't need another thing to worry about on my plate. You don't want me worrying more, do you?" Chloe said, knowing his answer.

"Of course I don't, Chloe," he said.

He so rarely actually used her name that she knew he was sincere.

"Umm, so I heard all of that. You and Bossman, huh? It wasn't just a one time thing?"

"Bart, I _really_ don't want to talk about anything. I'm tired and I'm mad and I just need to get out of here- and I need _no one _else to find out about what you heard in there."

"You never had to worry about that. I never would have said anything. I never said anything about you and Oliver the last time. I've got your back, Chloe." He said, truly hoping that she believed him.

Chloe had forgot that he'd kind of been privy to what had happened between her and Ollie the first time at Watchtower.

"I'll never do anything to hurt you or make you sad, or even just cause you more stress- not again. I promise," Bart said quietly and with absolute sincerity. Something had been brought to the surface, something that he'd been carrying with him for awhile.

"Not again?" Chloe asked.

"You know what I'm talking about," he told her. "Me, Dinah and Oliver," he said, starting to get emotional himself. "I was part of something that turned out in a disaster- something that _hurt_you_._ Something that resulted in your _loss. _And I am _so _sorry. I don't think I can ever tell you how sorry I am. And I couldn't stay here after it happened because I felt like an asshole. I vanished. And what did you do when I showed my stupid face again? You _smiled _at me- you _hugged _me. You didn't blame me- you _welcomed_me back after my part in all that crap... _Please_ believe me when I tell you now that I've got your back. Please believe me when I say that I never, ever, want to do or be a part of anything that's gonna hurt you... The fact that you're still my friend-"

Chloe was going to cry _very _soon. She cut off Bart because she thought that he was also too overwhelmed. "Listen to me, okay?" she said, taking a deep breath. "You and Dinah were basically just following Ollie. And I appreciate what you just said, but I don't want you to feel guilty or feel like you owe me. Yeah, you had a part in all of it- but so did I. What happened is not your fault or Dinah's. It's not even really Oliver's either, though out of the three of you- it would mostly be on him. I welcomed you back because I missed you and because you're my friend, and because you're part of a group that the world needs. You don't owe me, but what you said means a lot to me."

Chloe shut her eyes, temporarily keeping the tears at bay. She wasn't going to cry here. She pulled him to her and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "But I can't talk about any of this anymore, okay? I need to get the hell out of here."

And that was it. She was gone out the other door. And she finally let herself cry. She wouldn't do it in front of Oliver and she hadn't wanted to in front of Bart either, she knew it would only make him feel worse. But she forgot that Oliver could see her on the camera. She still hadn't completely left the Watchtower.

Oliver saw the tears on her face and called Clark right away. He didn't want Chloe to be alone right now. He was pretty sure Lois was working on some story so he had to call Clark, even though he didn't know if this would be one of the times where Chloe wanted to see him.

Before Chloe actually stepped foot outside Clark was standing in front of her. He noticed her tears immediately, even before she knew he was there. "Hey you," he said softly and Chloe looked up and was about to fake a smile, but didn't need to because what he did made her smile genuinely through her tears.

He didn't ask what was wrong, he just hugged her and held her there for a minute or two. And _this_ was her best friend. This was the guy who knew what to do when she was sad. When they let go, she stared at him for a second and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Anytime," he told her.

And then it was over. When she wouldn't elaborate, there was this moment where they didn't know what to say. "I was going to give you a call, but since you're here I can just tell you now. I'm taking a day or two off, so if you need any kind of Watchtower assistance Emil can help you out. If you really need me though, you can give me a call."

"Oh, okay. Is everything alright?" he asked .

"Yeah," she told him. "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm not Miss Watchtower," she said.

"I'll be good. I promise," he said, giving her a half smile.

She waved as began her walk to the Talon.

"Chloe," he called out. "Remember I'm still here, okay?"

Chloe nodded, but couldn't turn to face him again. She needed to get away from all of them right now.

She hurried to her apartment, but being there didn't help anything. She was still flooded with everything. She just needed to not think about anything. She needed a dreamless sleep, but it wasn't even dark yet. Chloe Sullivan was not a drinker, sure she'd had some wine here and there but had never really been all-out drunk. Today, she'd change that. Desperate to rid her mind of all this crap- of the mess that was her life- the mess that was Jimmy's death- of Clark and Oliver and everything- she raided the cupboard knowing that Lois had some alcohol there. Chloe didn't even bother to get a glass. She uncorked the bottle and just started to chug down its content.

o-o-o-o-o-o-

Lois walked in on what was clearly a _very _drunk Chloe.

"Hey cuz,. What's up?" Chloe slurred. "Aren't you supposed to be in Okla- Oklahoma or something?"

Lois wasn't really used to seeing her cousin like this. "Yeah, I was but there was a change of plan, which evidently is a very good thing because you clearly do _not_ need anymore of _that_," Lois said, grabbing the bottle away from Chloe. She noticed that there was another opened bottle on the table.

"Oh don't be a _party pooper_, Lois," Chloe laughed drunkenly, moving backward a little bit and bumping into the table. "Don't take my friend away. I think it's just starting to work. And you're ruining it because you're taking it away- and if you take it away I'm just gonna remember," Chloe said, waving her arms around.

Lois' heart sunk seeing Chloe like this.

"Lo," Chloe said, sounding very young and very innocent right then.

"Yeah, honey?"

"I don't want to remember. I wanna forget," Chloe whispered.

Lois felt water pooling in her eyes. "Forget what, baby?" she asked, in older cousin mode. There wasn't a big age difference between the two but when Chloe was sad Lois felt older than her couple years and took on the role and tone of a protector.

"Almost everything," Chloe laughed pathetically, stumbling as she bumped into something else.

Lois moved closer to Chloe and held out her hand. Chloe looked at it for a minute and then she took it as she gave Lois a very sad smile.

Lois brought her to the couch, grabbed a pillow, put it in her lap and motioned Chloe to lie down.

"Okay," Chloe said, sounding childlike as she rested her head in her cousin's lap. "My life is a mess. I'm a mess. I ruin things and people. I'm not a nice person anymore."

"Baby, you're still a nice person. And listen to me, you're going to be okay. Your life will be okay. You can fix things that are wrong. You've had some really shitty months Chlo, and you've experienced loss. But not everything is lost. I promise you baby, that things can get better. You know you can talk to me. Maybe I'm not always physically here, but if you need me, just remember that I'm here _for _ you."

"You know what Lois?" Chloe asked with a yawn.

"What, Chlo?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, cuz," Lois answered, wiping her eyes.

"Do you know that you're the only regular in my life that I can actually say I love you about and _completely _mean it. You're the only one that there's not some problems or hurt tied in with the love. You're the only regular, the only constant figure in my life that I know _exactly _what my feelings are for them... I love you very much and I wish I could talk to you more, tell you more- but even when I'm wasted like this," Chloe laughed "there's stuff I won't say. Stuff I can't tell you because I'm not the only one involved."

"You can tell me _anything _you want to, anytime." Lois said. She wondered if maybe Chloe was talking about the guy she was seeing- not being able to talk about it. Lois didn't know exactly what she was talking about and it was possible Chloe didn't either.

"Lo," Chloe whispered.

"Yeah?"

"You're being very sweet to me right now cuz I'm drunk and crazy and a mess. In the morning, when I don't look like complete shit any more and I'm actually thinking with my brain and not the alcohol, do me this one favour, okay?"

"Okay. What is it?"

"Don't lecture me, please. My head will already be filled with so much crap and I'll already know how stupid this all was."

"Okay Chloe."

"Lois?"

"What?"

"I hope you're comfortable here on the couch because I think the alcohol is finally doing what I wanted it to. I'm going to knock out and I have no intention of moving."

Lois laughed a little bit. "I'm good here, Chloe. Just close your eyes."


	6. Chapter 6

o-0-o-0-o Here's chapter 6. Thanks to Naleylover23xo, Katibous, Jokerisdaking and Raya for reviewing and thanks to the people who put the story on their list of favourites and those who put it on alert. Hope you enjoy this. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

When Chloe woke up, she wondered why she wasn't in her bed. She stretched her arms a bit, and then looked up and saw that Lois was there- that she had fallen asleep in Lois' lap. She tried to remember how she ended up asleep with Lois on the couch, but nothing was really clear. All she remembered was that she had drunk a whole lot of alcohol. She didn't remember anything that she had said, only that she had rambled on about something or other. She squinted her eyes, looking at the clock to see what time it was- it was still early.

She tried to get off the couch as quietly as possible, wanting to let Lois sleep. She went over to her bed and grabbed a pillow which she propped under Lois' head as she gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. She grabbed some clean clothes and headed for the shower. She turned on the water and let it wash over her. Yesterday was over now, and it was time to forget about it. She had been stupid and got drunk and just plain freaked out. There'd be no more of that. Chloe had to make some kind of change. She couldn't keep going the way she had been. When she got out of the shower she wrote a quick note to Lois, wanting to get out of the apartment as fast as possible, not wanting to have to face her cousin after last night- who knows what she had said in her drunken stupor. She grabbed her purse and headed out the door quietly, making sure to lock it.

Just as she locked the door she received a text message. It was from A.C. It said 'If you're sleeping, don't worry about this text. If you're up, do you want to grab some breakfast with me before I head out of town?'

Chloe answered him and said yes. It would at least give her a particular destination, other than just getting out of the apartment. She headed over to her favourite little cafe and got there in about ten minutes and found A.C. waiting for her, already sitting at a table.

"Hey you," she greeted, sitting down and grabbing a menu. She was feeling surprisingly hungry. "I hope you're in a mood to experiment because I'm hungry and want to order a bunch of things that I can't finish on my own," she said with a grin.

"Experiment away," A.C. said. "I won't say no to extra sweet breakfast foods.

Chloe ended up ordering four different types of pancakes and some French toast, and of course some coffee.

As they ate A.C. brought up the previous day. "Okay, so I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to say but I'm going to say what I'm going to say anyway... Are you alright after yesterday? You looked like you were gonna have a breakdown and we were worried about you."

"Everything's fine. I'm alright. No one needs to worry about me. Thanks for asking though... Listen, about what you heard and saw yesterday umm-"

"My lips are sealed. I'm not going to say anything to anyone. I only know what I heard so obviously I don't know everything, but that stuff about the weapons and Clark and whatever, if it means anything to you, I think you getting that stuff was a smart move."

"Thanks," Chloe said softly.

"And listen, not to defend Oliver, because he shouldn't have said what he said in that way- but you've gotta know he didn't mean for it to sound the way it did. He knows, hell, I think anyone who's ever met you and Clark knows that you wouldn't get something with the intent to hurt, let alone kill Clark."

"Thanks," she said again.

"You missed some stuff after you left," A.C. said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Well when Bart got back in after talking to you he called Oliver an idiot and then Oliver said that Bart should be happy because he got a kiss from you out of it, and then Bart told him that not only was he an idiot, but he was an asshole too. I thought that I might have to get in between them but then Oliver had agreed with Bart about him being an asshole. He felt really bad, Chloe, especially after seeing you crying on the camera," A.C. said.

How had she forgotten that she had cameras all over Watchtower?

"And then Clark came in and he didn't look very happy. We were greeted with a 'Tell me she was just having a bad day and that one of you wasn't an idiot and made her cry' and a glare." A.C. said.

"Oh God," Chloe sighed.

A.C just nodded and tried not to laugh.

"I kinda wanted to tell Clark you had had a fight with Oliver just to see his reaction and for him to yell at Oliver."

Chloe laughed a little bit.

"The guy did yell at me after all- but I thought we didn't need anymore drama and you asked me to keep my mouth shut, and I kind of felt bad for the guy since he was feeling like crap, so me and Bart just said we didn't know what was wrong... Oh, anyway about half an hour later Dinah and Victor showed up and were wondering where you were. Me and Bart told them that you'd pulled a couple all nighters in a row and that it finally caught up with you so you went home to crash. Emil showed up about five minutes later and that was that. Oliver was barely there, whenever he wasn't talking he zoned out. I doubt he could tell you much of what happened at the meeting. It's good that nothing major is going on. He kept looking at his phone. He wanted to call you, I'm sure of it... Tell me to back off if this is overstepping and please know that I'm not judging- but what exactly _are_ you two? Are you guys together?" he asked carefully.

"No, it's fine to ask, I guess, after what you heard and saw... We're not together. We never were. You can probably figure it out yourself, I'm just not comfortable talking about it," she said awkwardly.

"Are you guys gonna be okay to work together? I mean, you're not gonna leave us, right? I mean, nothing against Emil- he's done fine on the few occasions he subbed for you, but he's not our Watchtower. No one would be as good as you."

"Thanks for the compliment," Chloe said. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm still Watchtower. That's not changing. All the work stuff will be fine. Don't worry about anything."

A.C. got a message and groaned. "Dinah's ready. Gotta head out for our mission. It's gonna be easy, but we gotta get going."

Chloe got up and gave him a hug. "Have fun," she said. "And say hi to Dinah."

A.C. gave her a wink and left money on the table for the bill. Chloe left right after A.C. did. She started to think about her life as she started to walk.

Chloe didn't even know where she was headed until she got there. She hadn't really been paying attention to anything but found that she'd ended up at the cemetery. She took a seat in front of Jimmy's head stone. There was no one around. "What do you want from me Jimmy?" she whispered. "I know it's my fault that you're gone and I know that I should have given you better and more than I did. I know that I need to pay for how it all ended, and I have- and when I forget to punish myself or forget not to let myself get happy, you're there in my dreams. It's like you're haunting me, and I get it, I _do_. You're dead and it's my fault, but do you have to taunt me?

"I know I don't deserve it, but I don't think I can keep going on like this- could you just forgive me? Please? I feel like I'm going crazy. I cannot keep living like this. I can't just feel nothing, or anger and regret all the time. I'm trying to not get deep into anything with anyone. I'm trying to keep everyone at a distance and not feel, but I don't think I can do it anymore. I don't even know what I'm saying. I don't know anything anymore. Maybe my time of punishment could be over? Do you think that could be alright?" Chloe said quietly, through tears.

"I promise I won't forget you. I _can't_ forget you. I promise I'll still come see you. Could you just let me go, please? Can you just take away that part of me that doesn't let anyone get close? Can you just take away all of this guilt? Can you _please_ forgive me? Could you maybe just let me feel something other than nothing or sadness and regret all the time? I'm sorry you're gone. Please forgive me. Please tell me that you forgive me," she cried. "Could you give me some kind of sign if you forgive me?" Chloe said to her dead husband.

Clark had just arrived at the cemetery and saw Chloe crying.

This was too much for Clark. He couldn't stand to see her sad, but he couldn't really talk to her. Not about this. Not right now. Things weren't the same between them, but he couldn't stand to see her cry, especially not twice in two days.

He sped away before she could spot him and gave her a call.

Chloe looked down at her ringing phone and saw Clark's number, wondering if he was just there at the cemetery. She felt that familiar gust of wind.

"Hey Clark. Is everything okay?" Chloe answered, wiping her eyes.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I know you said no Watchtower stuff today, but I was just wondering if you were up for a bit of Clark and Chloe time? We haven't hung out in forever."

"Uh, sure," Chloe said. Clark could read her expression over the phone. A confused look followed by a small smile.

He and Chloe were the same these days. There was something wrong and they both knew it, but they never said anything to each other about it. They went on acting as if everything was normal, but there was a distance- but when one of them was down- the other still wanted to make it better. And that still counted for something. All wasn't lost for Chloe and Clark, but neither really knew what to do to fix things, didn't really know what to say for more than a five minute conversation.

He just wanted to get her out of the cemetery and to stop her tears but he had no clue how things were going to work out today. He wasn't ready for a big talk and he knew she wouldn't be feeling all that chatty either so he had to think of something that wouldn't require too much talking about the present.

"What are you up for?" Chloe asked.

"I was actually going to go through my old high school stuff and do some organizing and packing. I've got so many loose picture and stuff, I thought maybe you could go through them with me- help me pick some good ones for an album and help me pack away the rest, then if you haven't gotten sick of me yet, we could grab some lunch," Clark said, making the plan up as he spoke.

"Sounds good to me. When do you want me over?" Chloe asked, wiping away the tears away from her eyes.

"If you're awake and in the mood, you could head over now," Clark said.

"Okay, sounds like a plan. I'm on my way," Chloe said with a little smile, hanging up the phone.

She wondered if he had just been at the cemetery and had seen her crying. She felt the breeze she usually felt when he sped in. She put that out of her mind as she went to get her car and begin the drive to Clark's. She missed him. She really did. Things weren't right between them and it all seemed to lead back to Jimmy and Davis, but at least he was making an effort.

She liked to think that if they gave it some more time they could fix it all and she held on to that for a minute before taking a deep breath and thinking back to the cemetery. Would Jimmy forgive her? Would he allow her to move on in life? Would he free her and allow her her selfishness?

She shook her head and focused on the road, turning up the radio as loud as it would go, hoping the music would drown out her thoughts.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey Clark," Chloe said in greeting, walking into the barn.

"Hey yourself. I know it's been awhile but I'm certain you haven't forgotten how to get up here- what are you waiting for?" he said, motioning her up and Chloe grinned a little bit.

She and Clark went through a bunch of old stuff and after they got through the box of pictures Chloe said, "Not that this isn't nice and fun, but I've gotta know- you were at the cemetery before, weren't you?"

Clark looked as if he had been caught stealing something and Chloe let out a sad laugh.

"You never had any intention of hanging out with me today. I thought it was a little off to get a call from you asking to hang out. That's not really what we do anymore," Chloe said with a sad smile.

Clark didn't know what to say.

"But you've still got my back," Chloe said softly. "And that means something- so thank you for that."

"You're _still_ my best friend," Clark said quietly. "Whatever else there is here, whatever isn't right- because we both know there's a lot that's not right- even if we don't always recognize each other anymore- you are _still_ my best friend and I can't stand to see you cry or know that you're crying. I had to get you away from there."

"Hey Clark," Chloe said.

"Yeah?"

"I've still got your back, too, okay?" Chloe said.

Clark nodded and gave her a smile.

They'd never really admitted out loud to each other that something wasn't right, but they just did and it kind of felt good for both of them in a way. It felt as if they were saying 'Yes, we're broken, and we're not sure how, but we can fix this eventually.' And until that time, if they could just hold on to the basic stuff, like not wanting the other to be sad, they thought they could be okay.

"I'm going to relieve you from your lunch duty. You did your job- I'm not crying anymore. I appreciate it, I really do. But we're not going to push this any further today, okay? We haven't done something like this in awhile and I think we've had a pretty good day, so we're just going to end it right here while it's still good for today. End it for today after a bit of honesty. And we'll just take it from here, slowly. No pretending and I think we'll be okay," Chloe said.

Aside from yesterday, she had not hugged or been hugged by Clark in a long time. And now, for the second day in a row she found herself in a Clark hug, and she hugged him back.

Before she could make her exit from the barn she heard Clark say, "You know how you said you think we'll be okay?"

"Yeah," Chloe responded.

"Well, you may think it- but I happen to _know_ it," Clark said. And Chloe flashed him a quick grin.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Just like this morning, when she had ended up at the cemetery without planning to head there, she now found herself knocking on Oliver's door.

Chloe wasn't sure who was more surprised that she was there- Oliver or herself.

"Chloe."

"Hi," she answered uneasily. "You deserved a bit of what I threw at you yesterday," Chloe blurted out.

"Chloe, I-" Oliver started.

"You deserved _a bit_," Chloe continued. "But not all of it, and I'm sorry."

Oliver gave her a small smile. "You should come in," he said.

"Okay," she said. "I think we need to have a conversation."


	7. Chapter 7

o-0-o-0-o Chapter 7 is here. Thanks to the people who have favourite and alerted and thanks to Raya, Naleylover23xo, whatweareafraidof, blue red wing and katibous for reviewing. Hope everyone will enjoy the chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

"Listen, I know what I did was wrong. I don't blame you for being angry with me. I hated it when you said it, but you're right, essentially I did steal from you, but that's _not_ how it was meant to be, okay. I hated that you said I had used you for your money," Chloe said. "That money wasn't for me. That money I took from you was to get stuff that can keep everyone safe."

"But why didn't you just ask me for the money?" Oliver asked her.

"There's a bunch of reasons. One, would you really have forked over the money if I told you I wanted to buy Kryptonite weapons? I don't think so, because you would have stuck with the 'these are weapons that can kill Clark' attitude for awhile and then the offer would have passed us by. Another reason, don't you think I felt a bit bad about what I was doing? I know I flipped out on you yesterday when you said that I had bought weapons to kill Clark- I flipped out because it was like you were accusing me of trying to kill my best friend, and I would _never_ do that and it brought back memories from- never mind- but I if you think that I didn't feel bad about buying stuff that _could _kill him, you'd be wrong. I was kind of ashamed. I also _did_ think about telling you and asking you- there was a moment that I thought I could get you to see the logic behind it, but then I knew you'd probably want to tell Clark and I didn't want to risk the chance of him somehow letting it slip to the other Kandorians that we had Kryptonite weapons. And I've got this thing about doing everything myself," Chloe sighed.

"Probably the biggest reason, though, is because I _hate_ asking you for anything. And those weapons weren't for me, but it would still be asking you for something."

"You never ask me for anything," Oliver said.

"I know I don't and there's always been a reason for that, and my reason for it is what made your comment about using you sting even more... You're filthy rich, Oliver. You and I are both well aware of it. I knew it from the first day I met you. I knew it when I started working with you on occasion. I knew it when we became friends. I knew it when you asked me to be Watchtower as a full-time gig. And I knew it when I started sleeping with you. Who you are has always been very obvious to me. I've never really wanted to or felt completely comfortable asking you for things because I never wanted you to think for a second that you being loaded was my motivation for having anything to do with you, in any context. I never wanted you to think that I work with you because you've got so much money," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

"Sometimes it felt paranoid on my part, but I was always sure that you'd probably had people use you or get close to you in hopes of getting close to your money, and I just never wanted you to even _think _that that was a possibility from me. I don't like asking you for stuff...Us being friends has never been about you being rich. It's about having things in common and enjoying being around you. My being Watchtower for you and the team has never been about money for me. I _believe _in what you guys do, and honestly I'm just really proud to work with you guys. From really early on you made me feel good, Oliver. You calling me in for Watchtower jobs here and there and then full-time has made me feel like I've made some kind of difference for the good, you know, by helping you while you're trying to help others and keep them safe... So I'm sure you can see why you basically saying that I was using you for your money hurt me... So really, I _am _sorry for how I went about doing things, I was wrong. And I`m sorry for hitting you, but I`m not sorry for being angry with you over what you said. I`ve had a little bit of time to cool off so I know you didn`t mean for the things you said to come out the way they did- but they had hurt. The stuff about Clark and using you for your money- well I just thought you knew me better than that," Chloe finished.

"I _do _ know you better than that, Chloe, and that's why I felt like crap afterwards. I'm sorry too... Chloe, are you sure you're okay now? You scared me a bit yesterday, I wanted to call you and make sure everything was okay, but I was also sure that you absolutely meant it when you said you didn't want to hear from me."

"I'm okay. It's definitely good you didn't call me yesterday, it probably wouldn't have been pretty. It wasn't just you that got to me yesterday, it was just like everything that's wrong came crashing down and I had a bit of a freak out," She told him, not really wanting to say what she was saying, but also wanting to be honest with him. "It was just like everything was closing in on me and it was just too much for me yesterday. My life sometimes is just- I couldn't get my head clear, I just couldn't _stop _ thinking. So when I got home, I locked the door and I got drunk, hoping to forget everything for awhile."

"It must have been really bad for you if you just wanted to get drunk so you could give yourself a break from thinking," Oliver said quietly.

"If you're gonna ask if anything happened when I got drunk, like if I left the house and did something stupid, the answer is no. I guess Lois didn't end up going away after all. I assume she took the alcohol away from me, because I was asleep in her lap this morning. She took care of me last night, so everything's okay," Chloe said.

"I'm glad she was there," Oliver said.

"I've got my apology out and I think we've cleared the air, but we can't keep doing this," Chloe said, pointing from herself to him. "This thing we started, I think it's gotta stop," Chloe said, not looking at him.

Oliver was quiet for a moment before finally asking, "Do you hate me, Chloe?"

"No, Ollie," Chloe answered gently. "Why would you ask me that?"

"It's my fault Jimmy's dead and maybe you're finally realizing that. Maybe you're finally putting the blame in the right place and deciding to get rid of me, too. Is that what's going on?" Oliver asked with a sigh.

_Why is everyone bringing up Jimmy dying all the time? Why do I keep having to have_ _these conversations? They're not easy to have, and if I answer him honestly, I'm going to make_ _him feel bad and with my stupid crazy emotions, I might end up crying... Oh man- we're really_ _going to have this conversation._

Chloe took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm doing this honesty thing today, so I'm gonna say what I'm gonna say, but I'm gonna ask you not to bring this up anymore after I finish saying what I have to, okay? Please."

Oliver just nodded, looking a bit worried.

"I don't blame you for Jimmy dying. After the funeral though, when you and Dinah and Bart just vanished, after awhile, for a small amount of time, I was mad at you guys, but mostly I was mad at you," Chloe said, taking another deep breath. "Clark had left too, my husband just died and there was no one here with me. I felt scared and alone and I didn't know where Lois was either- I couldn't find _her _ anywhere," Chloe said, cursing herself inwardly, feeling tears coming on.

"Clark not being here was the biggest blow because he's my best friend, but at least he had said goodbye. For all that it did to break my already broken heart- at _least_ he had said goodbye to me, and even though I didn't see him, I knew he was around keeping Metropolis safe. He was feeling guilty over what happened to Jimmy, and he left, but at least he didn't just vanish off the grid. At least he was doing something productive. For a little while, and _really _ it was only a little while, I'd think about you and Dinah and Bart being gone, you know, and as far as I knew you were doing nothing productive, you weren't helping anyone- and this is still when I was really wallowing in my own grief and guilt.

"Anyway, sometimes I'd think about you guys, but especially you, because we were closer, and I'd think 'If only they'd left me and Davis alone, if only they'd never tracked us down and brought us back here, none of this would have happened. If only Oliver didn't think he knew everything and just forgot about us, we never would have come back and Jimmy would still be here. And Davis wouldn't have flipped out when he heard me say that I only _thought _I had loved him but what it really had been was me trying to save him- and he wouldn't have killed Jimmy and tried to kill me, and Davis wouldn't be dead either.' And I remember thinking that maybe I wouldn't be drowning with guilt, but that was only for a few days, Ollie," Chloe said, before turning away from him so she could blink away the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"But I _never _ specifically blamed you for what happened to Jimmy, because even in those few days where I dumped different kinds of blame on you, it always really came back to me and my choices. _I_ got Jimmy killed and I know that wherever he is now, he blames me for his murder. He haunts me. He's in my dreams _a lot_ and Davis too," Chloe had never intended to say these things out loud, but it was like after she and Clark had that moment of honesty earlier in the day, she had to just be honest and say what was true.

"He blames me in my dreams and he hates me in my dreams, and he throws it on my face that I never really loved him or that I never loved him enough... _I_ blame me, and _ he_ blames me. So _no_, I don't hate you, and I don't blame you either. I pulled out all the stops to get you straightened out again, remember? If I hated you and blamed you, I don't think I would have worked so hard to take you out of your downward spiral those months back... Oliver, _please_, after today, don't bring up Jimmy dying anymore. Please," She whispered the last word, angrily wiping away the tear that escaped from her eye. She needed to leave. She hadn't expected this to happen. She didn't want him to see her like this. "Ollie, I gotta go. I'll see you later," she mumbled.

Oliver's heart was suddenly breaking for Chloe. He reached out and grabbed her arm gently.

"Come here," he said, folding her into his arms and hugging her. "Listen to me, okay," he whispered. "Jimmy's death is not your fault. Do you understand me? And if you insist on taking blame for it, you need to shell out the blame to _everyone _who deserves some. Davis is the one who did this, alright? Me and Clark could have done things differently, but _especially_ me. Do_not_ put this all on you. I didn't see it then, but you really were trying to do the right thing. You were trying to do the right thing, and you know what, maybe it turned out horribly, but you were probably the bravest one out of all of us, Chloe. And listen to me about Jimmy. He and I weren't exactly super close, but I got to know him and one thing I know for sure is that even as you guys were doing the whole divorce thing, he loved you. He really did," Oliver said.

"I _know _ he loved me, and that's one of the things that just makes it more horrible," Chloe said quietly.

"He doesn't blame you, Chloe. Even after you left with Davis, he wasn't angry with you, he was just worried about you. All he wanted was for you to be safe. Yeah, I'm sure he didn't want to die, but you know what? I'm telling you that he _never_ regretted loving you, not for a minute. And yeah, maybe you didn't love him enough. Maybe you should have loved him more. Maybe you shouldn't have married him in the first place. There's a whole bunch of maybes that could be 100 percent true, but they don't matter, Chloe. I know that maybe he wanted more from you than you gave him, but I also know that he wouldn't have traded having been loved by you, _in any way_ for anything. He was a lucky man while he was alive, Chloe. His life was too short, for sure, but you loved him and he knew that you did- even if it wasn't enough. And being loved by you in anyway was something important to him. That last year _sucked _for him, but before that, he'd had time with you. He got to be with you. He was happy, Chloe. Don't think that you never made him happy because you did. And Jimmy Olsen, while he was alive and when it was alright, was a lucky man, Chloe. He was a lucky guy to have been loved by you," Oliver said gently.

"Ollie, you don't need to try to make me feel better," Chloe said, clearly crying.

"I _do _ need to make you feel better because you're just wrong. Jimmy, the real Jimmy, wouldn't blame you for this. This is _you_ blaming yourself, Chloe. I think you expect him to blame you and it's just killing you. But he doesn't blame you and I guarantee he wouldn't want you beating yourself up constantly. He wouldn't want you sad and crying. Jimmy would want you to be happy. That man loved you, Chloe- he would never wish any pain on you. He wouldn't want you to keep living with all this pain and regret and guilt. Please believe that. You have to know that. I don't think you need to be forgiven because this isn't your fault, but if his forgiveness is what you need, anyone who knew Jimmy would know that he forgives you," Oliver said, finally letting her go.

Chloe just stared at him silently for a moment. She didn't know what to say and she wasn't even quite sure what she was thinking.

"Oliver, can I just lie down in one of the rooms for like half an hour, please," Chloe said quietly after a moment. "I'd go back to the apartment but I can't face Lois just yet, but I feel absolutely drained right now and I just need to lie down," Chloe said, wiping her eyes for what seemed to be like the millionth time that day.

"Yeah, no prob. Just one thing, though- you have to talk to me later, okay? Not about this Jimmy stuff- I promised you I wouldn't bring that up anymore and I won't," Oliver said.

Chloe nodded. "Okay... Thanks," Chloe said, still quiet, turning to leave to get to a bed to lie down on.

o-o-o-o-o-o-

Chloe hadn't felt like she had, both yesterday and today, in a long time- or ever actually. She felt so drained and so tired. She felt like she needed rest. She needed to be lying down. Her freak out yesterday and all the emotion of today just seemed to be taking its toll on her and it was weird. She felt like a wimp at the moment. She needed to just close her eyes for a little bit as she replayed Oliver's words in her mind. He was only trying to make her feel better, poor guy, Chloe thought as she drifted off into a light sleep.

Oliver sat on his sofa while Chloe drifted off to sleep in the other room. Oliver knew, he just knew that Chloe would not be as honest with him again as she had just been- at least not for awhile. The past couple days had just been kicking Chloe's ass physically and emotionally and she couldn't keep everything inside, so she had finally just let it all spill out. He knew everything she had said to him recently was not easy for her and he kept berating himself for bringing up something that made her cry.

He knew that she was embarrassed about breaking down in front of him and he knew she was not going to bring it up again. He shook thoughts of that off and he switched his mind to what he was going to talk to her about when she woke up. She had said she wanted to end things with him which was not sitting well with him. He knew it wasn't all up to him since there were two people involved, but he wasn't letting her go and he'd just have to find a way to convince her that she didn't really want their "thing" to be over either.

Things were never fully calm and sometimes they'd drive each other nuts, but this "hookup" kept him on his toes. He was sure that he felt more for her than she did for him. He wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the way he started to fall for her and that wasn't supposed to happen in this arrangement of theirs. He could be wrong, but he really did believe she had started to feel a little something extra for him too, and he wondered if that was part of the reason why she had said that they needed to end things, so that she wouldn't have to go there, so things wouldn't get complicated.

He was giving himself a headache trying to figure out what was in Chloe's mind and time had flown by quickly because before he knew it he heard a door open and saw Chloe approaching.

"Hey," he said. "Feel better?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling okay," Chloe said, looking at the clock. "What the hell?" Chloe said.

"It's been two hours. I slept for two hours. Hey, I'm sorry. Did you have any plans or anything- I hope my stupid sleeping didn't just screw up your schedule or something."

"It's been two hours, wow. I didn't even notice," Oliver chuckled. "I didn't have any plans for the afternoon, so don't worry about it."

"So, you said before that we needed to talk," Chloe said quietly, not knowing if she had it in her to have another conversation today.

"You said you wanted to end this, and I want to know why," Oliver said plainly.

"Straight to the point," Chloe said with a bit of a laugh. "We just shouldn't be doing this, Ollie. It's not right. This has never been right. Friends shouldn't do what we've been doing. And dare I say it, I think Oliver Queen might be ready to move past his casual sex phase and back into potential for a real relationship land. Ollie, there's a woman out there waiting for you- and _look at you- _you're back on track. Your head is back in the game, you're in control of your life and I'm _proud _ of you. Take the next step, go out and find the perfect woman. Go out and find someone who makes you happy. Go out and just grab every bit of happiness you can. Go and grab every good thing that's in your grasp. Forget about this thing- go and do something good for yourself- breakaway" Chloe told him, feeling a strange rush of emotions.

"With the exception of the past couple days, you can't deny that we've been having fun," Oliver told her.

"You're right. I can't deny it, and I won't. It _has _ been fun," Chloe told him with a smile. "Sneaky fun, but fun for sure."

"Then seriously, why would you want to end it?" Oliver said.

"Ollie, did you not listen to anything I just said?" Chloe sighed.

"Oh I listened. I heard something about me being ready to settle down or something and going off to find some mystery woman who's going to be great for me. You said something about going to get some happiness and whatnot. Chloe, I'm gonna break it to you right now. You're pretty much a genius, but I think you're a bit off this time. I'm not looking to go off and find someone to play Happy House with. And the proud of me comment- honestly, _thank you_ for saying that. It means a lot coming from you, especially considering _you _are the only reason that there's any part of me to be proud of."

"Oliver-" Chloe started.

"No, it's true, Chloe. You straightened me out. You got my head clear. You made me remember what I'm here for. I'm not going to forget that whole Roulette thing... Anyway, back to your 'let's end this' speech, what's up with the "breakaway" comment? You're making it sound like I'm some kind of miserable prisoner or something. I _like_ what we've got, Chloe. I don't get you," Oliver said.

"I'm trying to be a good friend to you, Ollie. You _should_ breakaway. Maybe it's a stupid word choice, how about I just say distance yourself? You should distance yourself a bit from me, not the work or friends part, but the other part... Ollie, I'm not the same person I used to be. I'm definitely not the same girl I was when I first met you and I'm not even the same person that I was when I officially became Watchtower. Sometimes I'm mean. I'm a more cold person that I ever was and I'm just harder in general. I can see that in myself and as your friend, I should push you away from stuff like that- so I should push you away from _me_, especially since you're back on track. You're a good guy Ollie, you shouldn't be mixed up with someone like me" Chloe said.

"Sure, sometimes you can be mean, but I'm man enough to admit that it's usually my own fault when you are. And this business about you being cold and hard, well, I don't remember things that way at all," Oliver said voice getting lower, brushing his fingers across her skin.

Chloe bit her lip. "Oliver, stop," she said.

Oliver smirked. "Stop what?"

"I'm trying to do you a favour here," Chloe said, breath catching a little bit. All he was doing was grazing his fingers ever so lightly across her skin and it was driving her nuts.

"I don't want any favours from you, then," Oliver said. "See, I was right. I knew I didn't remember any cold and hard Chloe. All I remember is this warm and soft one," he said, his skin still in contact with hers. "I don't want to go out and look for some woman to play house with, Sidekick," he told her. "Maybe it's wrong, Chloe, but I like my life. I like what I do. I like that I work with you. I like that I'm friends with you and I really like that I get to have sex with you," he said and Chloe couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "Listen, sleeping with someone and actually wanting to see them again, actually wanting to have a conversation with them, while not entirely an alien concept for me, is something more foreign to me than not. I've got that with you, Professor. So really, if this is about you trying to be a good friend and you thinking about my happiness, then the thing to do, as long as you want the same thing I do of course, is to take back your 'ending things' comment and for us to keep going the way we have been... So Sullivan, what do you say?" Oliver asked, whispering in her ear, making Chloe bite her lip again.

"Don't say that I didn't try to do the right thing. I gave you your out. You're a stubborn man, Queen, but if you're so gung-ho about keeping our little arrangement going, I guess I can't convince you otherwise," she answered.

"You know you want me," Oliver teased and Chloe didn't answer. Oliver knew she was starting to think again. "Hey, Chloe," he said softly, getting her attention.

She looked at him.

"We're not hurting anybody, Sidekick. We're having fun. We're not doing anything wrong. We're just making each other happy and having some fun in a more often than not crappy world. You're allowed to laugh and smile. You're _allowed_ to be happy, Chloe."

Chloe looked at him for a moment, thinking. _Maybe Jimmy does forgive me. I asked for a_ _sign when I was at the cemetery And then I got Clark and we actually had a breakthrough today,_ _and then the conversation before with Ollie, with him saying all that he did and then I actually_ _had a dreamless sleep... _Chloe took a deep breath, looked down and nodded her head as she rambled on inside her head. Maybe She had gotten her signs.

"Okay," Chloe said quietly, finally. "I guess we can let the fun continue," she told him, meeting his eyes again.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Oliver said, flashing Chloe a grin. "It just so happens that it's a slow day at the office and well a slow day at the other office too," Oliver said referring to Queen Industries and to the team's work. "I've got nowhere I need to be and I happen to know that _you_ took the day off from work, too."

"Are you trying to ask me something, Ollie?" Chloe asked with a smile.

What Oliver really wanted to do was have a whole lot of sex with her, and though he could tell part of her wanted that too, he could still see the other part- the part that just made an important big decision- one that wasn't easy, the one that wouldn't let anything happen between them today. He was pretty sure she'd just finally come to believe that maybe Jimmy really didn't blame her, that maybe she didn't need to stay closed off and guilty all the time. He knew though, if the first thing she did after coming to that realization was have sex with him, he just knew that somehow Chloe would blame herself or feel guilty about it. And he didn't want that. Chloe had had enough of that. So Oliver got himself under control.

"Wanna hang out with me, Professor?"

"I'd like that," she told him with a smile.


	8. Chapter 8

o-0-o-0-o- Thanks for alerting and favouriting. Thanks to whatweareafraidof, redqueen11, Naleylover23xo, blue red wing, Raya, GoChlollie and jimmel for the reviews. Hope everyone enjoys this new chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o-

Chloe just got back to her apartment after an impromptu early lunch with Clark. Chloe and Clark weren't exactly the "Chloe and Clark" that they once were, not yet, but they were taking small steps here and there and Chloe saw the possibility that they could get back to their perfect place one day. She didn't know when that day would be, but with the passing time it looked a little bit closer each day. Chloe knew that there were certain things both would need to get off their chests, but they weren't ready for that yet and it was okay. For now, what mattered was that both of them were making an effort.

This morning was a little bit funny. Chloe was sure that Clark didn't have to be at the Planet until later in the afternoon so she decided to give him a call and see if he wanted to grab lunch or something, but as soon as she pushed the TALK button Clark showed up at her door. Chloe laughed when she saw him and she flashed her phone at him, showing that she just dialled his number.

"Guess we had the same idea, huh?" Clark said with a grin.

"Guess so," she answered. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to grab an early lunch with me."

"I guess the saying's true, great minds do think alike. I was coming to ask you the same thing," Clark said.

"Well, let's get out of here then. Time to stuff our faces," Chloe said, grabbing her purse.

When they had finished lunch, Clark came back with Chloe to the apartment to grab a box that she wanted dropped off at Watchtower. He offered to bring it there for her so she wouldn't have to bother carrying it. He was headed to the Daily Planet but would drop the box off before he went there. Chloe thanked him as he sped off.

Chloe was heading to Watchtower (as she pretty much always was) so she could have brought the box in the car but since she was feeling a little bit lazy she was glad she wouldn't even need to bother picking it up. Chloe grabbed a pair of pyjamas because she was pretty sure she'd just be staying at Watchtower tonight. She had a lot of work to do and she'd be online with Oliver and the team at around 8 anyway, and Lois was in Chicago on assignment so it's not like she needed to keep her company.

She threw the pyjamas in a bag, locked up and left her apartment again and was at Watchtower before she knew it.

As soon as Chloe locked up and set the alarms back up behind her when she got in, she burst out laughing at what she saw and she immediately picked up her phone and got in contact with Dinah.

"Hey. Is everything okay?" Dinah answered.

Chloe laughed. "Yeah, no worries. I know I said you probably wouldn't hear from me til tonight when we're all linked up for your mission but I had to tell you now to give you a good laugh."

"I'm all ears. I could use a laugh. These boys from this team of ours are a bunch of idiots," Dinah said loudly, so the guys could hear.

Chloe laughed again. "They're still annoying. No change from last night then?" Chloe asked.

"Still annoying and no, no change, unfortunately for me," Dinah said.

"Do you kind of wish you had a 'screaming room' right now?" Chloe asked.

"That would be absolutely lovely," Dinah said. "Wait, are you saying? Did he really-"

"I guess last night Oliver could tell that they were really annoying us. He took our screaming room request very seriously," Chloe chuckled.

"Where the hell is it?" Dinah laughed.

"Well I wouldn't exactly call it a full-out room, more like a big portable closet, but it's got a good door and everything and it's even labelled. I'm gonna read you what it says:

_The Screaming Room: For Team Use When the Others Members are Driving them Insane._ _WT and BC have Priority when wanting to use The Screaming Room due to their Minority Status_ _on The Team. WT and BC, you put up with a lot from us. This room is dedicated to you. Please_ _remember to use the room when either of you feel the urge to scream at us coming on, rather_ _than actually screaming at us."_

Dinah began laughing her head off on the other end of the phone which made Chloe laugh even more.

"What did he do? Call someone as soon as we all left?" Dinah asked.

"I don't even know. Oliver left at the same time I did. He must have called last night and got it sent over in the morning. He must have been here this morning because I just got here," Chloe told her. "Anyway, I gotta go. I've got so much to do. I just thought you'd like to hear about the room."

"You're right. This whole room thing just brightened the day a little bit," Dinah grinned.

"Ollie's there with you, ask him to install a Screaming Room on the jet for you," Chloe chuckled. "Alright, later," Chloe said, hanging up.

Last night the team all met up at Watchtower to go over everything before the mission that they'd be on tonight. The guys were getting on Chloe and Dinah's nerves and just really driving them crazy. None of the guys were being serious and when they'd try to be serious they were offering nothing that was of any use. It had got to a point where everyone except Chloe and Dinah were goofing off, and the ladies had got fed up and both started screaming at the guys at the same time, which just made the guys laugh even more at first, but then when they saw that the girls were legitimately ticked off, they looked a little scared and put on some serious faces.

"_Don't worry Dinah, these bozos might wind up dead, but I'll get you out of there alive_ _tomorrow, I promise- because we actually communicate seriously," Chloe said and got a smirk_ _from Dinah in response. "Evidently our male friends over here don't really care if they end up_ _dead tomorrow night, so I'll just keep you on Coms and we'll let the boys fumble around in the_ _dark and see what happens."_

"_Alright. Sounds like a plan," Dinah said with a grin._

"_Awww come on 'Licious, don't be mean," Bart pouted. "You know you love us."_

"_Sometimes," Chloe mumbled, still very annoyed, but it was Bart- and he always__made_ _Chloe soften a little._

"_I think I got a smile!" Bart cheered._

"_Chloe, Dinah," Victor piped in. "Fairest members of this great team," he continued__dramatically, earning him a small smile from Chloe and Dinah. "May I suggest the next time that__this side of the room pisses you off and you want to scream at us- you don't actually scream at__us, but maybe go yell somewhere else."_

_This earned him a bit of a glare from the ladies. "No, I think we'll stick with screaming at__you guys," Dinah said and it was Chloe's turn to smirk. "It's apparently the only way to get you__guys to not be idiots."_

"_We should get a Screaming Room," A.C. added with a laugh. "When we drive you nuts,__you could go into the room and just scream, but it wouldn't have to kill our ears and you'd get__your point across that we're being idiots and then we'd snap out of it."_

_Chloe and Dinah considered this for a moment and nodded and then turned to Oliver._

"_We want one," Dinah said._

"_Yep," Chloe added._

"_Alright, the ladies want a screaming room. I'll add that to my list," he said with a grin._

Chloe took another look at the Screaming Room and just laughed some more before logging on to the computers and getting started with her work, which for the next many hours would consist of quite a bit of hacking. There was some stuff going on a couple cities over that Chloe wanted to look into before linking up with the team tonight.

As was the custom lately, the day flew by. Before Chloe knew it, the alarm she had set to remind her that she needed to link up with the team soon went off. Chloe finished up what she was doing for that day and looked outside. It was already dark. Time had really flown by.

Chloe went over to her bag and pulled out her pyjamas. She'd be staying here tonight. The mission should go off fine if they strictly stuck to the time limits. They'd gotten their acts together last night and everyone got on the same page, so while she was always a little bit worried when the team was out on a mission, she was pretty sure everything would be okay. Everything being okay would mean she wouldn't have to freak out and go of Watchtower, which meant she could link up to the team and still be comfy in her pyjamas.

Chloe changed into what Lois called "the cutest freakin' thing ever" and threw a frozen dinner into the microwave. Chloe thought her cousin had over exaggerated a bit, though Chloe did think the pyjamas were pretty cute. It was a blue pant and button-up top pyjama set with about a million little yellow ducks on it. They were the comfiest thing Chloe had ever worn.

While she waited for the dinner to finish heating up, she pulled up the schematics for the building the team planned on raiding in the next little bit. She'd already hacked into its system and had the building's camera system linked up to her screen so that she could guide everyone with ease. Chloe was set. Even if she lost the building's camera feed, she felt confident enough that she could guide them through just fine.

The microwave beeped and Chloe pulled out the dinner, absentmindedly picking at it while her mind wandered for a moment. It had been a week since she and Oliver had talked things out, and a week since she had a bad dream about Jimmy. She supposed that Oliver had been right. It had been her own guilt. She was the one who had brought it on because she couldn't forgive herself for Jimmy dying. It felt nice knowing that Jimmy didn't hate her.

Thinking that he did was truly one of the worst feelings Chloe had ever had. Chloe wished she could change a lot of things where Jimmy was concerned, but she knew that she couldn't do that anymore. She wished so badly that she could actually see him and tell him she was sorry.

Chloe wasn't really ready to go back to the cemetery any time in the near future, she just didn't think she could bring herself to it for some reason right now. She put the dinner down and looked around Watchtower for a minute before walking towards the big main window that looked down on the city perfectly. She touched the glass of the window and whispered. "I was a lucky girl, Jimmy. Thank you for loving me and I'm sorry, _so_ sorry for how everything ended," Chloe said, placing a kiss to her hand and then her hand to the window's glass. Watchtower's window glass- Jimmy's gift to her. Jimmy was just as much here as he was at the cemetery. It felt alright to talk to him here.

She shook her head and came back to the present and picked the dinner back up and headed over to her computers. Five minutes later everyone was linking up.

"Watchtower online"

"Canary online"

"Aquaman online"

"Cyborg online"

"Impulse online"

"Arrow online"

As the team did their thing, Chloe kept an eye on the cameras and on the team's little dots on her screen. Everyone was on schedule. Timing was good. And then something happened. Someone else, someone not on the team got in the same vicinity and was headed in what would eventually lead to Oliver's direction.

"Arrow, hurry up and get out of there. You've got a guest that'll get to you in about a minute if you don't move right now. Cyborg, you need to speed it up too. You've got someone who could be heading your way. It looks like they're trying to decide which way to head. Both of you, take the alternate route I told you about. Just hurry it up and you'll avoid them. Do you both hear me? Move now," Chloe said.

"No worries Tower I'm sure we could take them on if we had to."

"Arrow, Cyborg, shut up and move it. You wanna prove your manhood or whatever the hell- well find some other time to do it. Move your asses now! Canary, Aquaman, Impulse- everything good?" Chloe asked, worked up.

"Everything's good Tower. We're at the exit," Bart's voice sounded.

"Okay, we're being good boys, Tower. We'll be at the exit in a minute," Oliver said.

"Good. We're still on schedule, but just, so don't dawdle. Get out and get the hell away from there."

About forty seconds went by before she heard. "We're out and we're getting out of this place, Watchtower," Victor said.

"Good," Chloe breathed. "Go get yourselves some sleep or something. Watchtower out."

Chloe shook her head. Sometimes those guys could be idiots. She'd gotten a bit scared there for a second with Oliver's careless attitude. But he was okay despite that moment of stupidity, and that meant Chloe could breathe easy and just relax for the rest of the night. She walked over to the television and turned it on, plopping herself down on the couch, flipping through the channels until she came across a re-run of America's Funniest Home Videos.

Apparently there was some sort of marathon on because when Chloe looked at the time again, over two hours had gone by. After a bunch of mindless laughs, Chloe switched off the TV and decided to go through the box Clark brought over. The box had a bunch of info on the people she had worked with at ISIS. It was all her own notes and stuff so it was kind of coded so that in case someone else got a hold of it, it wouldn't give any info away, but for her, it was all their info.

She'd been thinking about some of the people. She'd known a lot of them actually. There were a lot more that she knew than the ones who had come to those meetings she had held before. She wanted to know how a few of them were doing, wanting to make sure they were okay. For awhile, she just really didn't have it in her to take an interest in anyone else's lives outside of Lois, Clark and the team, but Chloe had been feeling like a better person recently and wanted to know how things were going and if they needed any help from her.

She dragged the box over to the couch and opened it as she sat back down, and was surprised at what was inside. "What the hell?" she muttered.

This wasn't the box she thought it was. She could have sworn she had moved this box into the Talon's basement. She must have brought the other one down there instead. This box was full of pictures. This box actually quite literally had ALL her pictures in it. She remembered how they all ended up in the box. It was the day after Jimmy's funeral and no one was around. All she had was her grief and guilt and she remembered coming across her old photo albums and pictures of Jimmy and everyone else in her life- they just popped up all over the place. She didn't want to look at them. She had ripped out the pages from the albums and just threw the pictures into this big box and discarded the actual albums. She did not want to see the faces of anyone at the beginning so she'd closed them off in a box and shoved them away in the basement, or at least she thought she had.

Now though, she didn't want to shove them away. She wanted to look at some of them, not all of them, admittedly. She hoped what she would find on top would be pictures from when she was a kid or even high-school. She wanted to look back at a time of innocence, she wanted to see her parents, she'd even like to see some early pictures of Pete and Lana and Clark, and she'd love to look at some pictures of her Torch newspaper room. Her reporting days were over, as much as it had once been her passion, being Watchtower took over that role, it had become her life. But she still had the reporter in her, for sure, and she was feeling nostalgic at the moment.

Chloe reached in the box and pulled out a handful of photos, and sure enough the first picture she pulled out was of her parents and herself from nearly twenty years ago. This was taken so long ago, and it _felt _ like it was so long ago, yet she could remember the day pretty clearly. Chloe smiled sadly at the photos. Sometimes when life was crazy, Chloe would think back to those times like in the photo, times when whatever the worst thing wrong could have been- your parents could have made everything better. Those days were a world away, but it was nice to peek in on them every once in awhile.

The buzz of the motion sensor went off and Chloe looked to her screens that showed her all of Watchtower. Oliver was punching in the alarm code that would let him to where she was. Chloe was confused. She thought he'd be staying in the other city overnight. He must have hopped straight on the jet, instead and headed right back here.

She got up and put the pictures she was holding on to the table and just as soon as she saw Oliver walk in, her phone rang.

"Hey," Oliver said and Chloe nodded in response, too occupied with the phone number displayed on her screen.

Chloe gave Oliver the "hold on a minute" finger, and walked into another room, closing the door behind her. This was so weird, her _dad_ was calling her, just after she was looking at old photos. Chloe hadn't talked to her father in awhile.

Oliver was a bit curious as to who had Chloe so distracted at the moment and so he did what any nosy person would do, he stood outside the door that Chloe just close and he listened for a moment.

"Daddy?" Chloe answered the phone, voice suddenly very soft- younger sounding. "Is everything okay?"

"Well hello to you too, baby girl," her dad answered on the other end. Oliver could hear the affectionate annoyance in Chloe's next words. "I'm not a baby, Dad. Haven't been in close to forever. All grown up now, remember?" she said with a little laugh. "So really, is everything okay with you?" she asked.

"Yeah Chloe, I'm fine. Can't a father just want to hear his daughter's voice? Can't a father check in with the most precious girl in the world?" he asked.

Chloe sighed, not an annoyed sigh, though. "Of course you're allowed to check in, Dad," Chloe said. "I just haven't heard from you in forever so I thought something might be wrong."

"Well I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch as much as I should, I really am," he said.

"It's okay, Dad," Chloe said. "I haven't been the best daughter in terms of keeping in contact, so I think you don't really have anything to feel bad about there. Things get crazy, _life _ gets crazy and sometimes you don't even know where the time goes... It's nice to hear your voice," Chloe said, in her softest tone yet. "I was just actually looking at old pictures of you and me and mom. I was 4. You guys had taken me to the zoo, remember?"Chloe asked him.

"Yes I do," her dad chuckled. "And you were wearing that pink and white polka-dot dress."

"You remember my dress?" Chloe laughed.

"I definitely do. And later in the day we'd gotten you a chocolate ice cream cone-"

"That I dropped all over the dress," Chloe finished for him.

"I'm surprised _you_ remember all of that," her dad laughed. "You were so young."

"I've got an _excellent _ memory, what can I say?" Chloe said with a laugh.

Oliver felt like an ass for listening in on her conversation with her father. That was something private and he knew it was wrong, but he wanted as much Chloe as he could get. He wanted to see every side of her and there was something different in the way she spoke with her father. Something more innocent, something more sweet.

"I know it's late Chloe, and I'm sorry, but I was just thinking about you and I just wanted to hear your voice."

"You don't have to say you're sorry for calling me, Dad," Chloe told him. "You can call me whenever you want. That's your father privilege ," she said with a little smile.

"Well then, I'm going to let you get back to whatever you were doing, my little blonde one. Don't be a stranger. Come see me sometime."

"I'll try Dad, you know you could come down here to see me too, sometime."

"Well then, however it happens. Hopefully I'll see you sooner than later. I love you, Chloe."

"I lo-" Chloe tried to repeat the words to her father, but it was hard. She loved him, but she found that it was extremely hard to actually say the words, and not just to him.

"Aww come on Chloe, you can't tell your dad you love him?" her father said on the other end.

"Of course I can say I love you, I just had something in my throat, that's all. Have a good night daddy," Chloe finally said and Oliver sprinted toward the couch, not wanting her to know he was being a nosy jerk.

He saw the pictures she must have been looking at and he noticed a much larger box that appeared to be _filled_ with other pictures too. He picked up the ones she had laid down on the table and took a look.

Chloe walked out of the room she was in and walked over to Oliver.

"Cuteness, thy name is Chloe Sullivan," Oliver said, holding up one of the pictures of her four year-old self. "Nice pyjamas," he added with a grin, referring to the ones she was now wearing.

Chloe gave him a smirk. "They're comfy... So I see you've found my pictures."

"You feeling nostalgic tonight, Professor?" Oliver asked, pointing to the box of pictures.

"What are you doing here, by the way?" Chloe asked him. "I thought you were staying there until morning."

"I _was_ going to, but I figured I could just fly back within a couple hours and spend some time with you- and _that _ idea sounded better," Oliver said plainly.

"What, no urge to go back in the building and take onthe guys," Chloe said sarcastically. "I swear, sometimes you guys can be so stupid," she said, smacking him lightly upside the head.

"I like the Screaming Room by the way," Chloe said, taking a seat next to him, taking back the pictures.

"What, I can't look at your pictures?" Oliver said.

"You actually want to?" Chloe asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, if I'm _allowed_ to," Oliver said.

"Okay, fine," Chloe said with a small smile.

"I didn't know you had these here," Oliver said, taking the pictures back from her, flipping through the pictures.

"I actually didn't. Clark brought them over here for me after we had lunch, except I thought I had him bringing me a box with something else in it. _This_ box, or so I thought, was supposed to be in the Talon's basement, but I'm assuming I brought the actual one I was looking for down there instead... I'd kind of forgot about this box, actually. It's been nearly a year since I thought I'd put it away."

"There were albums that all of these were in at some point, right?" Oliver asked, referring to the possibly thousands of loose pictures.

"Yeah there _were_ albums until I decided to tear all the pictures out of them and throw them in here... I wasn't the happiest camper at the time," Chloe said. "But if you actually really do want to look at these with me, you can help me organize them again so that when I _do_ go get some more photo albums everything can be in order."

"You even have to have photo albums ordered to perfection," Oliver laughed at her.

"Yeah, I do," Chloe admitted. "Kiddy family pictures stay together, high school stuff stays together. It makes sense."

"Alright Miss OCD," he teased. "So, come on, spill."

"Spill about what?" Chloe asked with a laugh.

"I want stories. Give me the stories behind the pictures. Fill me in on 'Chloe Sullivan: the even younger than she is now' years. I met you when you were like 19, right? Okay so we've got years 1-18 to go over, and I'm sure you've got pictures for every one of those years" Oliver said.

Chloe laughed a little bit in spite of being a tiny bit overwhelmed.

He knew he threw her off a little bit, he could see it in her eyes. But he didn't care. As long as he knew he wasn't overwhelming her, he'd poke and prod and get her to open up to him bit by bit. He wanted to know her, not just Chloe Sullivan of the present, but he wanted to know about her before, too.

Chloe told herself to stop being such a weirdo._There's nothing wrong about talking_ _about your life. It's not like it's supposed to be hard. Look at some pictures, give some_ _background. It's not like you're giving the guy a piece of your soul, for goodness' sake._

"Well, the adorable-ness that you hold in your hands there- I was 4. My parents were still together and I remember having begged them to go to the zoo. I wanted to see some lions super badly, which I did get to do, and it was awesome. This other one, was also another zoo one, but I was 8 or 9 at the time and mom was gone. Umm- anyway, this was also the day that I had the misfortune of meeting the most horrible boy on the planet. His name was Jonah something or other. While my dad watched me, I waited in the line where you could buy some food to feed to the more tame animals, this Jonah kid comes out of nowhere and tries to cut in front of me in the line," Chloe started.

"I don't like this kid already," Oliver said dramatically, which made Chloe laugh.

"Okay, anyway. So this little brat cuts in front of me and I say to him perfectly politely 'Sorry, I was here first. Could you line up behind me?' And do you know what the little punk does? I can remember it as clearly as if it was yesterday. He screams in my face 'You're stupid! Girls are stupid' and he shoves me so hard that he kind of sends me flying backwards a bit. I was _so_ mad. I turned and looked at my dad. He looked furious and was making his way over. My dad looked like he kinda wanted to throw the kid across the zoo and you know, maybe let him land in the lion's den," Chloe chuckled. "Well, before my dad got to us, I was back on my feet and headed toward the little twit with a vengeance."

"Did you kick little Jonah's ass?" Oliver asked with a grin.

"I ran at him full speed, knocking him straight down to the ground and then I got down and punched him in the face. I made him bleed. It was really actually kinda bad, but it felt so good" Chloe said, laughing at the memory. "And as he whimpering for his mommy he says to me 'How'd you do that? You're just a _girl_. Boys are stronger than stupid girls.' "

"Oh, I've got to hear what you said back to him," Oliver said, clearly amused.

"I still remember every word, and the look of sheer pride and amusement on my dad's face," Chloe grinned. "I looked down at the kid and noticed he had a name tag on for whatever reason and I said to him 'Guess you're not much of a boy then, are you Jonah?' "

"Burn," Oliver laughed. "Sassy Sullivan at age 8. I like it."

"_Then _ I said 'you're probably not going to be much of a man either' and my dad burst out laughing, picked me up and piggy-backed me to the Sno-Cone stand," Chloe said. "Then he puts me down and he brings himself down to my height and he says 'I wish I could say that you'll always be able to do that, that you'll always be able to defend yourself against the boys like that. Not right away, but eventually the boys are going to start to get bigger and stronger and if something like today happens again, it will probably end differently. You could really get hurt, so if I'm not around or if someone isn't around to help- if you can, I want you to run.' And then I asked him what I'm supposed to do if I can't run away and he says 'if you can't run, then you fight them.' And then I told him I was confused. I said 'Daddy, you basically just told me that in a couple years I'm gonna be a big wimp and that the boys are gonna kick my butt and now you're tell me that I should fight. Do you think you could make up your mind, please?' "

Oliver laughed.

"So then my dad says 'If you can avoid getting hurt, you should run and that's not called being a wimp- but if you can't run, you fight with everything you got and then you get yourself out of there.' So then I ask him why he didn't just say _that_ in the first place, and then I told him that I'll try to remember to listen to him but that I couldn't guarantee it because even though what he said was probably the smartest thing, my pride would probably get in the way and I'd want to try to get a punch or a kick in there somewhere because I wouldn't want anyone thinking they can just mess around with Chloe Sullivan," Chloe finished with a bit of a laugh.

"Only you, Chloe. I cannot picture an 8 year old talking about pride and not being messed with," Oliver grinned.

"What can I say? I'm one of a kind."

"Yes you are," Oliver agreed and Chloe grinned.

"So, have you had enough yet?" Chloe asked.

"No, no, no. We're just getting started. What about the high-school years? I'm _sure_ you've got stories for all those pictures," Oliver said.

_I feel awkward about taking about freakin' photographs, like that's giving too much_ _away, and Oliver's sitting here, interested, legitimately interested. What's wrong with this guy?_ _Seriously? I'm not great company, yet this guy truly likes being around me? I think we might_ _need to get his head checked. It's so easy to make Ollie smile, so suck it up Sullivan, they're just_ _pictures. It's not gonna kill you to talk some more._

"I suppose I could chat a bit more," Chloe said, smiling a bit, pulling out some more pictures, and sure enough, they were high school ones.


	9. Chapter 9

o-0-o-0-o Thanks to GoChlollie, redqueen11, berry-cool , whatweareafreaidof , Naleylover23xo , jimmel for the reviews and thanks to those who put the story on their alerts lists and favourites lists. Here's the new chapter for you all. Hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think by leaving me a review o-0-o-0-o

The first photo was of herself and Clark at Spring Formal. "So yeah, obviously me and Clark went to Spring Formal together," Chloe said, pointing at the picture. "He asked me a bit after he saved my ass. I had been buried alive," Chloe said with a shudder. "He got me out. I think Clark was confused. He liked Lana, but he knew I liked him, and I think he had just been so scared that he'd almost lost me forever. I think it was kinda easy asking me because I actually _did_ mean a lot to him and me and him just made _sense. _Clark was very sweet, but as you know, nothing ever happened." The next pictures were of herself and Pete, Clark, Lana and Whitney (who looked like he felt awkward being in the picture with them) and the next was of her and Justin and Clark was in the background and could be seen giving Justin a dirty look Chloe started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Oliver asked.

"I never really noticed before, but these pictures really do say a lot about high-school. Wow," Chloe said, laughing and shaking her head.

"Okay, so you know most of the people in here. So the first guy, that's Whitney. He was Lana's boyfriend. Then, next to him, as you know, is Lana. Then there's Clark, then me and then that's Pete beside me, I can't remember if you've ever seen Pete or not... Anyway, just look at the picture. It tells you a lot."

"Alright, let me see what I gather from this picture," Oliver said, clearing his throat.

Chloe laughed some more.

"We'll start on the left. So this Whitney guy- he wasn't really buddy-buddy with you guys, right? He was mostly around because of Lana?"

"We were friendly enough with him, but yeah basically you're right," Chloe said.

"Alright then, so we've got Miss Lang, who's the only person not staring at someone in this picture. We've got Clark and the boyfriend looking at her- Lana was kinda torn between them, right?"

Chloe chuckled and nodded her head. "You can read us like a book by this picture."

"Alright then we've got you, Professor. Looking at Clark, obviously not over him yet."

"Obviously," Chloe laughed back.

"But look at that, that's your hand near Clark's arm, right? And that's Lana's hand in yours, is it not?" Oliver asked.

"It is," Chloe answered. "Clark was literally between us in the picture, but in actuality he was between us often enough, too. But despite that we were genuinely friends and we got really close."

"Then we've got Pete, who clearly had a thing for _you_," Oliver said, pointing at her.

"Pictures really do say a lot," Oliver chuckled. "What a group you were."

Chloe smiled. "Everyone pining after everyone, yeah. But somehow we were awesome friends. The friendships were so important that you kinda just pushed the rest down, I guess... I mean, like I had _no_ clue that Pete liked me. I don't think I _ever_ would have found out if it wasn't for me being a truth magnet for awhile."

"Truth magnet?" Oliver sounded confused.

"Yeah, I had broken into Luthorcorp myself one night-"

"That's awesome," Oliver laughed.

"Yeah, so I broke in and long story short I came in contact with something that made pretty much everyone tell me the truth. Needless to say, I was a bit ruthless when I found out that I could get pretty much anyone to tell me whatever I wanted to know... Well, a lot of people basically started running away from me. Anyway, one day there was me and Clark and Pete and I noticed that Pete was trying to hurry away, and I asked what was up with everyone fleeing from me. Pete told me he was trying to stay away from me so that he wouldn't tell me the truth. Well needless to say, Pete gave me a kiss and an answer too. After he kissed me he said that he loved me and had wanted to do that since the day he first met me, and that he never told me because he didn't see the point since he knew the way I felt about Clark... Yep, so that's the Chloe Truth Magnet Story."

"And what about that one?" Oliver asked.

"Well, that's me and Justin. The guy had a thing for me, I thought he was sweet. Clark wasn't a fan of him, which actually shows quite well in this picture. Clark's always been protective of me when it comes to guys, and well- he was right to be in this case, since Justin tried to kill me."

Oliver raised an eyebrow.

Chloe laughed. "I've had a very close relationship with danger and near death since high-school... Hah, wow, here's another near death story," Chloe said, pulling out another picture.

"Everything looks calm in this," Oliver said.

"Yeah, it _was _calm by that point, and I don't even know why I have this picture- oh wait I do... I made the guy who took it give it to me, well actually, I ripped it out of his hands as soon as it popped out of his Polaroid camera. I wasn't really in the mood for pictures that day, and especially at that moment... Let's just say that me and Lana had finished having a brawl, one in which she tried to literally kill me.

" It started in the hall, where Lana bashed my head into the wall. It continued with her throwing me down the first set of stairs and then kicking me down the second set of stairs. I'm up and then she kicks me again and then she punches me and then I stumble down a stair or two, but I don't fall. I regain some composure, shake off being taken absolutely by surprise, grab Lana and punch her in the face. And I've got to say, it was quite the awesome punch. But anyway, this time I sent _her_ flying down the stairs. Then I basically spear her into the wall, but you know the glass part, like where they have the fire hose and axe- and then she kicks me again and then she grabs the axe and comes at me with the axe," Chloe continued her story while Oliver's jaw dropped slightly.

"It keeps going with her trying to axe me up. It leads us into the girl's change room, and then I try to take the axe from her. That doesn't work. She kicks me and sends me flying into the showers. Lana comes at me with the axe again as I'm on the ground, and then her kind-of boyfriend tries to stop her, but she's holding her own and gets him to fall on the ground. I grab her foot and make her fall, her head hitting the ground. A few seconds later she opens her eyes, asking me what just happened... Basically, she was ordered to kill me. Had something to do with a computer program, and it kinda just takes you over. It all lead back to Lionel Luthor really. It wasn't actually Lana at all, it was just her body," Chloe finished.

"Holy crap, Chloe," Oliver said. "That's insane."

"I'm not really up for talking about my experiences with Luthors over the years. All I will say is that while they tried, and they _both_ did, Lionel first and then Lex, they've _never_ broken me. Lionel tried to have me _killed _ a whole bunch of times, _that _ day, being one of them, but he never succeeded. Crap with the Luthors started in high-school and it never really stopped. It just changed from one of them to the other. And I'm not gonna lie, there were times I was _so_ scared, but there were a lot of times when it was kind of exhilarating. You know, like, he just tried to kill me or he just tried to ruin my life or threaten Clark, or that he'd held me in his lab, wanting to experiment on me and he thought he would win. He thought that he could beat me He thought that he'd get the best of me, yet I was still standing after everything. It was awesome. I'd get the proverbial punch or kick in there somewhere, even if I couldn't manage the physical one. He'd know that you don't just mess around with me. I don't go down without a fight. Well, at least that _used _ to be me... I like to think I've still got some of that."

"No one would know it by looking at you, but you're quite the tough cookie. You're the brains. You're not the brawn. But when it comes to you actually having to physically fight, you'll fight with everything you've got, even if you know you probably can't win. You've got tenacity. You don't cower in the corner and just wait to be rescued if there's anything you can do about it. And on a not physical note, you stick with things, you get things done and you handle things, even when it's something you _can't_ handle alone. There's this thing about you, Chloe. You take the world on. You're amazing, you know? You've got Hero written all over yourself, Sidekick," Oliver said and got a shy smile back from Chloe.

"Thank you... I think you're making me blush, Ollie," She laughed.

Oliver grabbed a couple pictures from the top and then dug into the box and pulled out some from towards the middle of the box.

"This must be The Torch, right?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah. The Torch room was like my home at high school," Chloe said with a smile. "That newspaper was my baby," Chloe laughed. "And not to sound cocky, but I did a pretty damn good job with that newspaper if I do say so myself."

"Well, I didn't know you back then, but I don't doubt that you did awesome things since you're good at pretty much everything."

"Oliver, you're just buttering me up left right and center... Oh my God," Chloe said, when Oliver picked up the next photo.

Oliver looked confused but then looked down at the picture and understood why Chloe reacted the way she did.

"Wow," she mumbled, closing her eyes for a minute.

It was a picture of Chloe and Davis.

"How did I even get this?" Chloe asked herself out loud, not sounding so great. She took the picture from Oliver and turned it around, read something and then started to rip it, but she stopped. She'd only torn a little piece of the edge. In the end the picture was still intact, she couldn't get rid of it. She threw it back into the box, along with all the other photos they had looked at, and shoved the box as far away from her as she could.

"I'm sorry, Ollie. I have to get out of here, like _right now," _Chloe said quietly.

"Hey, that's okay," Oliver told her. "Go splash some water on your face and take some breaths. I'll drive you home."

"You brought a car with you?"

"No, but I know you have yours here," he said. "So I'll just scrunch up my legs and hope they don't cramp up and drive you home," he smiled trying to get her to laugh a little.

"Okay, thanks," was all he got in response, Chloe looked like she was going to be sick.

Chloe walked off to the washroom and Oliver quickly picked up the picture she threw in the box and he turned it around. There was writing on the back.

_I told you I'd find a way to get_ _this picture. Well actually, it wasn't too hard. I offered the guy 50 bucks and he gave me a copy,_ _too. I say that was the best 50 dollars I've ever spent. Looking forward to getting to have more_ _days like the one from the picture. You_know _we had tons of fun. I told you I could get you to_ _smile. I wonder how long it's gonna take you to actually find this picture. Don't forget, I'm_ _always here- whenever you need me, whenever you want me. Haha, yes I said it. You know there's_ _ something here, even though you won't admit it, but I'm not gonna push you because I know_ _you're going through a lot with the divorce with Jimmy. I can wait for you. I _will _wait for you,_ _because I really do love you._

Oliver quickly put the picture back in the box. Oliver kind of got why Chloe wanted to rush the hell out of Watchtower. He would bet that what Chloe saw in her head after reading the back of the picture was the night that Davis killed Jimmy and Jimmy killed Davis right here in Watchtower.

Chloe didn't bother to change back into her clothes, she came back out, still in her pyjamas. She threw her keys at Oliver as she made sure everything was signed off and alarms were set.

After they'd been driving for a couple minutes, Chloe finally spoke. "I honestly _never_ thought I'd see Davis' face again. And I didn't even know that I had that picture," Chloe said, trying to give Oliver a bit of an explanation, but not willing to go into detail about everything. "So- sorry for freaking out," she said quietly.

"I don't know why you're sorry, Sidekick. You don't have to be. You were taken by surprise. And I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again- if you feel like you wanna talk or just let something out, I can be a pretty good listener."

"Thanks," Chloe said sincerely. "But I'm not ready to have a conversation about Davis."

"I didn't think you were, and I imagine the first conversation you'd really need to have when you were ready would be with Clark. I know there's still some Davis stuff in between you guys, but I'm just putting it out there that whenever you feel like you need to talk- you can talk to me.

"Oliver, stop the car. There's no one else on the road anyway," Chloe said.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Nothing's wrong. Just stop the car," she said and so he did.

Chloe unfastened her seat belt, leaned over and gave Oliver a long hug.

"Aww, Chloe," Oliver chuckled.

"You're awesome and I'm sure you know it, but it just needed to be said out loud," Chloe said, feeling a lot better.

Oliver gave her a wink and she smiled back at him. She let go of him and put her seatbelt back on.

"So, since I'm so awesome _and _ because I'm in your tiny car without complaint, what do I get in return? What's my reward?" he teased, seeing that it was okay to do so now.

"Wanna stay with me tonight?" Chloe said with a smile.

"When don't I want to?" he laughed.


	10. Chapter 10

o-0-o-0-o Thanks to GoChlollie, Raya and Daniella for the reviews and thanks to the people who alerted and favourited. Hope everyone will enjoy this chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

3 weeks later...

"Okay Clark, we have a car jacking over on Samson Street."

"On my way."

"Bad day for that guy. Now we have a mugging on Halper"

"Got him."

"Nice one. And just around the corner there's a-"

"Done."

"Wow that was fast. Even for you. Okay cowboy, looks like we're all clear on the western front, for now."

"I'm handing over the reigns to Jonn Jones. He's gonna patrol while I'm out of town with Lois."

"Don't worry, I think Metropolis can handle one weekend without the Blur. Now the real question is can The Blur handle two nights with Lois?"

"I think I'm up to the challenge, but I'll have my cell so if anything comes up-"

"Clark, it's one weekend. Enjoy it."

"I heard Bart's in town. You two should hang out."

"Thank you for the not-so-subtle contribution to the Chloe Sullivan charity case, but Lois already made a kind donation in your name. I'm hanging up now."

"Bye Chloe."

"Have fun."

"You too," Clark said.

When Chloe and Clark's exchange ended, Chloe looked beside her at Oliver who was smirking as he drove.

"Are you sure you don't wanna hang out with Bart. He is in town after all," Oliver laughed.

"Nah, the only person I want to be seeing tonight, lucky for you, is yourself," Chloe said with a grin. "MacDougal Inn here we come."

"Sidekick, we're not gonna have to sneak around for two whole days," Oliver laughed.

"I know," Chloe said. "I wonder what we should do with this alone time?" Chloe asked cheekily.

"I'm sure we'll figure _something _ out," Oliver said with a smirk. "We'll be there in a minute."

Chloe and Oliver were going to be alone. They wouldn't have to worry about interruptions or making quick excuses. This was going to be awesome.

o-o-o-o-o-o

After a loud and weird sound that echoed throughout the inn was heard, almost everyone rushed out of their rooms and gathered outside. The Inn's manager assured everyone that everything was fine and the crowd outside began to head back in. Chloe and Oliver had just come out of their room as everyone was heading back in. Everyone had included Lois and Clark.

Lois and Clark, and Chloe and Oliver spotted each other

_Oh crap_.

"Twist," Lois said.

_Oh my freakin' goodness. Lois and Clark now know about me and Ollie. Fab-U-lous. Kill_ _me now!_

"Hey," Oliver said.

"Hello, you two," Lois grinned.

Clark and Chloe remained quiet.

Lois didn't take her eyes off of Chloe. "The lady said everything was okay. She said we should all go back to _bed._ I guess we'll see you guys tomorrow. Goodnight," Lois said with a smirk.

"Goodnight," Oliver said back, trying not to grin.

Chloe and Clark nodded awkwardly at each other. The two pairs headed back to their respective rooms, but before they'd totally left each other, Lois pulled Chloe aside, and before Clark or Oliver could really notice the girls weren't at their sides anymore, Lois smacked Chloe on the butt and whispered "Girl talk. Tomorrow. Have fun tonight."

"Uh, did I miss something?" Oliver asked.

"Not unless Lois smacking me on the ass and telling me we're gonna have a girl talk tomorrow counts," Chloe sighed.

Oliver just laughed as they walked back into their room.

"It's not funny Oliver. Now they know. Now everything's open up for questions and comments... Now they know," She repeated.

"Is it really _that _bad that they know?" Oliver said. "I mean A.C. and Bart already know."

"A.C. and Bart _knew. _They might think there isn't anything going on anymore," Chloe said.

"I _highly _ doubt that," Oliver said.

"You're probably right about those two, but this is _Lois and Clark," _Chloe said.

"Chill Professor, really, it's not that bad," Oliver said with a laugh.

"Yes it is," Chloe said.

"Chloe, you're _kinda_ killing my ego here," Oliver said, feigning hurt. "Are you ashamed of me?" Oliver asked with a grin.

"Oh shut up," Chloe said, rolling her eyes, managing a little laugh. "It's not like that. I just don't want to have to explain stuff to people, you know? Those two are like parts of me and if they ask questions, I have to answer them, and I'm not really ready for that... But whatever," Chloe said, shaking her head. "What's done is done. They know and nothing's gonna change that. We'll just deal with whatever happens."

"_See, _there you go, Chloe. Brush it off. Go with the flow," Oliver said.

"The way things were flowing before, which I'd very much like to get back to, had us wearing far less than this," Chloe reminded him "and not thinking about anyone else."

"I think we can get right back to that," Oliver laughed, shutting the door behind them.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The next morning...

"How can you be so, _ehhh_" Lois made a sound, it wasn't really a word, "about this? This

is Chloe and Oliver together, here. Did you know they were dating? No. Of course you didn't. I mean _I_ didn't even know they were dating. We should sit with them," Lois said.

"Or, we can give them some space. Lois, they obviously came out here to escape from everything, kind of like we did," Clark said, not really wanting the awkwardness that he was sure would follow.

Chloe and Oliver walked out of their room and Lois spotted them at the top of the stairs immediately and waved.

"You know what we _could _ do," Oliver said to Chloe. "We could pretend not to see them."

"Aww come on, Ollie, throw up the white flag" Chloe said with a little laugh. "It's Lois. she makes Susan B. Anthony look like a quitter."

And then Chloe and Oliver made their way down the stairs to meet Lois and Clark.

"Hey guys. Come here. Sit with us," Lois said motioning Chloe and Oliver over.

"Quiet weekend at home, huh?" Clark said to Chloe.

"Trust me, we had no idea the two of you would be here," Chloe told him.

"And _we _ had no idea there was even a '_you two'_, which I think is perfect. I think fate has brought us together," Lois said.

"It was a little less fate actually," Oliver said awkwardly.

"More fame," Chloe said.

"Like fame," Oliver agreed, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"This Inn is so far off the beaten-path that even the society pages couldn't find Star City's most eligible bachelor here," Chloe said.

"You mean ex-bachelor," Lois said with a grin.

"Okay, enough about that," Chloe said, changing the conversation away from herself and Oliver. "How did you guys manage to find the road less travelled?"

"Well, I found a brochure for the Inn at the apartment. I figured Lois wanted to come here," Clark said.

"What brochure?" Lois asked.

"That wasn't Lois' brochure Clark, that was _mine_," Chloe said, starting to feel annoyed.

Clark looked like he didn't really know what to say, while both Lois and Oliver grinned.

"How was I supposed to know that Oliver was-" Clark started.

"You weren't," Chloe shot back. "That's the point."

Clark turned to Oliver, but Oliver just said, "Oh, don't look at me. I learned a long time ago not to assume what belongs to who in that apartment. You gotta use context clues."

Chloe squirmed a little bit.

"Yeah, speaking of clues," Lois piped in, "let's talk about Mr. Green- in the bedroom- withmy cousin."

"There it is," Oliver said, wanting to sigh.

"Lois, I think they came here for brunch," Clark said, trying to give Lois the hint to drop the subject.

"Good point," Lois said, turning to Chloe. "Look Chloe, there's food," Lois said, getting up and dragging Chloe off to talk.

"Okay look Lois, I know what you're gonna say. With Ollie's less than perfect track record, I should really just cut my losses and-"

"Or I could say that this is one for the win column. I think it's great that you and Oliver are together," Lois said.

"You do?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah and the best part is now we can double-date. How awesome is that?" Lois beamed.

"Oh whoa, whoa Lois. No, no. Before you book us up for the next two months, Oliver and I are _not_ a couple," Chloe said.

"Okay sure," Lois said, folding her arms across her chest. "Then what are you?"

"We're- having fun. And we're not complicating things by using labels and definitions," Chloe insisted.

"This is a relationship Chloe, not a spelling bee," Lois said.

"Look, I'm glad that you have found someone that makes you happy, but we're not all cut out for couple-dom. And with Ollie, I don't have to worry about that, okay? We're no flowers. We're no presents, no pressure. No strings. And with _you_, we're 'no comment'," Chloe said.

Lois reluctantly zipped her mouth shut which earned her a grin from Chloe.

"Lo, I love you, but you don't have worry about this. Honestly, I like what I've got going on. Don't judge me, okay?"

"Who the hell am I to judge anyone? It's your life babe. I just want you to be happy, you know? And yeah, goes without saying cuz, I love you too."

Back at the table Clark and Oliver sat in silence until Oliver finally broke it. "So... You save any orphans recently, old ladies, maybe? Something like that?"

"I did stop a bank robbery," Clark answered.

"Ah, that's nice. That's fun stuff," Oliver said.

"Thanks. How about you? Anything new?" Clark said, knowing full well there was something new, something he both wanted to know about and not know about all at the same time.

"No. No, no. Just a – well there's a new compound bow I'm trying out. Yeah, it seems pretty good. See how that works..."

Clark couldn't hold it in. He had to say something. "I know it's not my place to say-" he started.

"Then don't say anything," Oliver said.

"But after everything's Chloe's been through I don't wanna see her get hurt," Clark said.

"Well, that's good. You know, she's stronger than you think she is, though- so," Oliver said.

"Yeah, but one of her strengths is giving people what they need and sacrificing what she wants," Clark told him.

"Well, how do you know this isn't what she wants?" Oliver asked.

"Just don't take her for granted," Clark finally said. He was going to try to not judge Chloe and Oliver. If this is what Chloe wanted, then fine- but Clark didn't really believe this is what Chloe _truly _wanted deep down. He wouldn't judge but he _would _remind Oliver to treat Chloe well. No one could ask him not to do that. Chloe was his best friend. It was his job.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"I must say, I think your taste in wine is almost as good as your taste in women," Chloe said flirtily, pulling Oliver by the hand into their room.

"Why thank you. You have a little bit of pinot right there, actually," Oliver said, kissing her. "Oh look at that, I got it."

Chloe laughed and as she turned her head, she noticed something on the bed.

"Ummm, unless Christmas came early this year, that better not have my name on it," Chloe said.

"Oh, well, maybe you've just been especially good this year. Maybe a guy shouldn't take someone like you for granted."

"I didn't think you were, Ollie," Chloe said. "Clark said something, didn't he?" Chloe asked.

"It's just a gift," Oliver said.

"No. No, no. No. It's a slippery slope. 'Just because' gifts are never just because. There's always some unspoken part like 'I'm sorry or I feel very strongly about you,' both of which are complicated. Oliver, I wanted to keep things simple, you know? Like with no strings- or ribbons," Chloe said, grabbing a jacket.

"Wait. Where you going?" Oliver asked as Chloe headed for the door.

"I'm going for a walk. When I come back can we just hit the reset button and play our favourite indoor game again?"

Oliver was left a little bit dumbfounded. _What the hell just happened here? You scared_ _her off. That's what happened._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Chloe."

"Clark?"

_Oh my God. What the HELL? Where is his shirt?_

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked Clark.

"What are _you _doing?" he asked back

"Where are my clothes?" Chloe asked, in shock.

"I don't know," Clark said, confused.

"What's going on?" Chloe freaked out, heading quickly out of the shower area.

All she remembered was being in the woods, walking and now she was here. How did she end up in the bathroom with Clark? And where was Oliver? She needed to talk to him.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"The truck is still there. At least Lois didn't drive home," Clark said, meeting Chloe outside.

"Oliver's not in our room. We're definitely being roasted, not toasted over a bottle of MacDougal's finest tonight," Chloe said.

"Chloe, what possessed you to come into the bathroom like that?" Clark asked her.

"I don't remember," Chloe said. "I just completely blanked out."

"You don't remember seeing-," Clark said.

"_No. _God, I definitely don't remember seeing that... Wait a minute. Was I- did you see?"

Clark avoided her gaze for a moment.

"Oh God," Chloe said. "This is our last couple's vacation together. "

"If I don't find Lois, this'll be the last vacation I take with anyone," Clark said.

"Okay, so not that I haven't seen enough of Clark Kent's private- life, tonight-"

"I don't like where this is going," Clark said.

"You took Lois on a romantic getaway to some sort of a bed and breakfast. And while I doubt that the whole breakfast part poses any problems, correct me if I'm wrong, I seem to recall you having some kind of a concern about beds and non-powered-people. And what would happen in the beds with the non-powered people if," Chloe said weirdly.

"Okay, stop," Clark said.

"_Thank _you."

"My training with Jor-El helped me to manage my powers better... Let's just say that I'm in control- of everything," Clark said and Chloe nodded awkwardly. "But _you_ weren't, when you decided to throw me a surprise party in the shower. And then you passed out only to come to with no memory. What was the last thing you do remember?" Clark asked.

"Oliver and I were having a talk, thanks to _someone's_ overdeveloped protective instincts," Chloe said and Clark knew she was referring to him. He just shrugged it off. That was him. He was protective and she knew it. He always was. "And I decided to go for a walk."

"Where?" Clark asked her.

"Over here," Chloe said, showing him where. "This is the lantern I brought from the Inn. I must have dropped it here," Chloe said.

"Unless something made you drop it," Clark said, walking further into the forest.

They found a body.

"This is so not the weekend I had in mind," Chloe said.

After a minute Clark spoke. "You were out here Chloe. Do you think you could have-"

"Gone Norman Bates?" Chloe finished for him. "Wait a minute. I wasn't the only one out here. There was a - a face, like a phantom."

"What did it looks like?"

"Black, white and weird all over. And since this is where my memory hits a roadblock, I'm guessing that spirit started driving this dune buggy. I must have been possessed," Chloe said.

"Well, you obviously aren't now. But if that spirit is responsible for this murder, we need to find it before it kills again," Clark told her.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Who told Chloe to go walk in the woods, anyway? Was it Hansel and Gretel, do you suppose?" Oliver asked, following Lois into the woods. She had said she knew where Chloe was and, all he wanted to do right now was talk to Chloe. Little did Oliver know, that this wasn't actually Lois and that Chloe wasn't in the woods anymore.

"It's not much farther."

"Well, I hope she left a trail of bread crumbs 'cause if she didn't, we might never find our way out of here."

"Oh, I'll be leaving these woods. But you won't," she said, shoving Oliver into a tree and then tossing him across the way.

Bad, bad bad.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Back inside the Inn Chloe and Clark were gathering information from the Inn-keeper.

"It's not real."

"You've got a confused co-ed in your living room and a dead body in your yard. Now, we need to hear the rest of Siobhan's story," Clark said.

"You really think a centuries-old spirit has come back for revenge?"

"We've seen weirder things," Chloe told her.

"Okay, Umm, after Siobhan was killed, her soul was sent to the underworld, where she was given great powers."

"What kinds of powers?" Chloe asked.

"Uncommon strength and the ability to slay any man that hears her wail. Superstitious villagers also gave her a new name - the silver banshee," the Innkeeper told them.

"Okay, the last time I checked, the underworld was still underground. So, how is it that this wailing wonder has gotten topside?" Chloe questioned.

"Legend tells of a portal through which her spirit could return to this world. It was said to be a relic created in Siobhan's own image. but after several deaths in the village, Bevan feared that he would soon be silver banshee's next victim. So he conducted an ancient Scottish ritual and covered the relic in Siobhan's spilled blood, sealing the portal shut."

"A relic in her image? Like a statue or an engraving?" Clark asked.

"Or a painting," Chloe said, looking at the Inn's wall.

"There's another portrait painted under this one. Bevan didn't just use blood to paint over his sister's image. He used it to paint his own portrait over hers," Clark said.

"And then Lois must have accidentally opened the portal when she scraped it," Chloe said.

"Chloe, you need to figure out how to close that portal. I'll find out who Siobhan inhabited next," Clark said, heading out.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Back in the woods, possessed Lois/psycho banshee was still tossing Oliver around, and then she spoke.

"I was denied vengeance, just as I was denied power. But now I shall have both."

"I'm all about the girl-power, really, but I gotta honest with you - I don't see you breaking through any glass ceilings with that hair," Oliver said, getting up, just to be brought down again by the sound of her wail.

"Siobhan!" Clark's voice rang out.

"You know who I am," she said.

"And I know your story. But killing men won't make up for what was done to you," Clark told her.

"Maybe not. But it does make me feel better," she answered back, wailing at Clark this time.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Back at the Inn, Chloe was still in her investigative mode. "Tell me you found something."

"How about Bevan's diary?" she said, handing the diary to Chloe.

Chloe took a look and said "I don't suppose you read Gaelic?"

"I may not have believed all the ghost stories, but I'm still a McDougal."

"We banished her soul with blood and flame, then burned her body so her spirit could not walk again" the woman translated.

"Burn her body and burn her blood. I think we close this portal with fire," Chloe concluded, slashing Siobhan's portrait and throwing it into the fire, ridding Clark and Oliver of the Silver Banshee.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Not too long after Chloe burned the portrait, Clark, Lois and Oliver all walked back into the inn. Chloe looked relieved, knowing then that everything worked.

"Everyone's in one piece. Good stuff," Chloe said, noticing Oliver looked a little bit banged up.

"We _don't_ live boring lives," Lois said. "I'm beat. I want pyjamas," Lois said. "We'll see you in the morning. Nighty night guys," Lois said.

"Before I follow her," Clark said to Chloe, "I've gotta say, I wish it was under different circumstances, but tonight was fun, Chloe, aside from the worrying about those two," he said, referring to Lois and Oliver. "Made me think of the Torch days."

Chloe gave Clark a grin. "I agree on all counts."

"Goodnight then you two," Clark said.

"Goodnight."

"You okay?" Chloe asked Oliver as they headed to their room.

"It's been a fun night," Oliver said. "I started to worry a little bit so I went looking for you in the forest with Lois who goes all Terminator-Medusa and I kinda got my ass kicked, but aside from that everything's peachy," Oliver said with a little laugh.

"Hey," Chloe said to him, closing their door.

"Yeah," Ollie responded.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out on you like that before," Chloe said, truly feeling bad for how she acted.

He had caught her very off guard. That stupid little box scared her and she lashed out and was mean to him and he didn't deserve it. She knew he'd agreed to the no-strings thing, but she should have known, since she was the first one to mention no-strings between friends probably wouldn't work all that time ago, that one of them was probably going to do something to break that rule or do something that didn't quite fit with the rule.

"It's alright," Oliver said. "Don't worry about it."

Chloe didn't really think he quite meant it but she didn't push it any further.

"Let's just get some sleep," Oliver said.

"You go ahead. I'll join you in a bit," Chloe told him. "I've kinda got the munchies. I want to see if I can get into the kitchen and find some goodies," Chloe said and Oliver chuckled.

"You sure you don't want to join me on this little escapade?" Chloe said.

"The thought of me and food right now is not appealing," Oliver laughed. "But I send you off with wishes of luck in your quest," he said.

"Okay then," Chloe said. "I'm off to raid the kitchen. If you knock out before I get back, then goodnight."

Chloe didn't have a case of the munchies, she just had a case of being messed up and needing to get away. She'd hurt him earlier today and she knew it. She didn't want to hurt him. And she had apologized and he said it was okay but she didn't think he meant it. He just didn't want to be in conflict with her. Chloe suddenly let out a little laugh. Who the heck ever would have thought that Chloe Sullivan could hurt Oliver Queen, billionaire playboy extraordinaire?

Chloe just sat outside of the room for a little while and when she thought Oliver had fallen asleep she went back inside.

_Good, he _is _asleep._

Chloe quietly threw on some pyjamas and even more quietly got into the bed. She looked over at him for a couple minutes.

"I really am sorry. I must seem like a complete idiot, like really, who gets angry when someone tries to give them a gift? Me. Crazy me, that's who. I don't know if I have it in me to be able to do something besides this whole "no strings" thing. You might not even have meant the gift thing to mean anything, but it scared the crap out of me, Ollie. There's just so much _stuff_ with me. I'm not ready and I don't even know if I'd be _able _ to- to _be_ with you. Oh God, and it's _not_ you that's the problem, it's me. And it's not that I don't care, because I swear, I care about you very much, and it's more than I let on... And I don't even know what the hell I'm saying- which is alright I guess, because you're not awake to hear me sound like a complete idiot. I don't know what I'm going to do with this. I _should _have ended this last month like I'd told you, and then we wouldn't be here with me being bitchy. I'm really sorry because I've been so selfish. I've seen it for awhile now, this for you is more than just sex and you care, and you're always trying to be there for me.

"You've been good to me, Oliver Queen, and I'm sorry because sometimes I act like this is nothing, but it's not. It was _never _nothing, I can admit that much to myself now, but I don't know if I'm ready for it to be _something_, if that even makes sense. There's feelings here, but this is scary and overwhelming- and this past year has been _hell _ and I'm different. I've been trying not to feel too much because I'm kind of broken inside in places. There are broken pieces of me. And feelings and caring at whatnot all had this part in breaking me inside- and I've got to keep what's still in tact inside of me from breaking," Chloe whispered. "Wow, I'm such a wuss," Chloe mumbled. "I can't even say any of this to your face, I have to do it while you're asleep... You should just give up on me. You really should because I don't think I'm worth it, but I guess I'm glad that you haven't given up on me. Maybe I can try, I dunno... So, uh, thanks... Yeah, okay. Sleep time," Chloe said, finally closing her eyes, actually falling asleep fairly quickly.

Only when Oliver was absolutely sure that Chloe was asleep did he open his eyes. He hadn't actually been sleeping. He'd heard her, heard all of that.

"Don't worry, Sidekick. I have no plans to give up on you and I'll try not to freak you out," he whispered to her with a little smile.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Chloe sat outside the Inn holding the box in her hand, the box that held whatever Oliver had got her. She looked at it for a moment or two, fighting with herself. She should try. She said she would try... Okay, she could do this. It was only opening up a box- nothing drastic. Chloe swallowed and began to untie the ribbon. She didn't see Oliver watching her. She didn't know he was there.

He watched her struggling with herself to open the gift and he knew that her even untying the ribbon was a big deal, and that's why it was okay when she couldn't open it up all the way. She tried and that's what really mattered right now. As she began to put it away, Oliver decided to do something, something that he hoped would put her at ease. Sure it would be a lie, but he knew she wouldn't look at that box again anytime in the immediate future, so it would be okay.

"Uhh, it's a spoon," he said and Chloe looked over. "Bought you a spoon, one of those little- people collect them. I thought about getting you uh, some of those little decorative soaps, but ultimately you didn't really need either one of them, did you?"

"Uh, I don't know about that," she said with a little smile, getting up. "I'm more partial to sporks myself, but a girl can never have too many, _spoons._"

"Yeah, well I never should have wrapped up that Pandora's box to begin with and second guessed _or _ us. From now on I won't," he said. And Chloe realized what he was doing. He was trying not to overwhelm her, and she appreciated it.

Chloe felt like she needed to say something, but she wasn't sure what, so she just said the first thing that came to her head, hoping it might bring a smile to his face. "Maybe we should just say that next time you won't take advice about relationships from Clark Kent."

"You know, speaking of Clark- for future reference, and you know, strictly for environmental purposes- the next time you wanna take a shower with someone, Chloe, you could just ask me," he said.

He was adorable and Chloe smiled sheepishly. _So he knows about the shower. Lovely._

"I can't remember blacking out and I wish I could forget waking up," she said.

"Really? Well, it couldn't have been that bad, right?" he said. "I mean, wasn't there a time when you would have given just about anything to stare at that farmer's tan, in all its glory, I'm guessing?"

"That was a _long _ time ago, like in a Smallville far, far away," Chloe said and Oliver just stared at her, seemingly not really buying it.

_Well, okay, it wasn't that long ago, though it feels_ _like it now. And yeah, I've downplayed it... He knows I'm not good at this feelings stuff, but I_ _guess I owe him something. I guess I can give him the truth about Clark._

"I mean, okay _yeah. _I did love Clark, _a lot. _And I waited years for him to see that- to see me. But even with his X-ray vision, he never did. I think more than that, I just wanted someone who would _get_ me... And as good a friend as Clark is, he's never gonna be that person, which is fine, really. I mean, those wounds healed over a thousand super-saves ago, now there's just scars."

Clark, Clark, Clark. That guy would always mean so much to her, but she had finally understood that they weren't meant to be together. There were ways that only Clark could ever get her, and ways only she could ever get him- romantic partners couldn't get them in that way. Chloe and Clark had something that they'd never share with anyone else, but there was another way, a way that Clark never quite could get her and what was scary was that Chloe was actually pretty sure that Ollie got her in that way. It was scary because she didn't know what she was doing. It was scary because she was still kind of broken. It was scary because she only just realized it as the words "get me" came out of her mouth. It was scary because she didn't even really know if she was ready for anything. She didn't know if she could get away from the "no strings" thing... But she said she'd try, and she would.

"It's Clark's loss," Oliver told her.

Chloe gave a sly smile and then switched things to him. "What about your loss? I'm sure Lois didn't have to drag you into the woods kicking and screaming."

Chloe knew that she didn't necessarily make any sense since she had consistently insisted that this thing was just sex, but sometimes a part of her, a part that was deep down, wondered if he still had feelings for Lois, a part that was a little self-conscious.

"Uh, yeah, that's the funny thing about scars, you know. They're always there," he said and Chloe involuntarily felt a pang of something in he chest.

"It doesn't mean they haven't healed," he said right after and Chloe smiled a little.

"Sometimes they can be kinda cute too, huh," he said with a little nudge, earning him another smile. "You have one in particular that I'm partial-"

And Chloe just cut him off with a kiss_._

"Shh," she told playfully him when she broke away.

It was only a minute or two before Lois and Clark were out there also.

"You two are gorgeous together, did you know that?" Lois said in greeting.

"Hello to you too," Chloe said, shaking her head but laughing too.

Something apparently just dawned on Lois all of the sudden. Her jaw dropped a little bit.

"You okay, Lo?" Oliver asked.

"_You!"_ she said in an accusatory tone, but an amused one.

"What about Oliver?" Clark asked, looking confused.

"I _told _ you I knew there had been a guy in the apartment," Lois said, turning to Chloe. "I just had no clue it was _you,_" she said turning back to Oliver. "Wow, you guys are good. It's been a good couple months and no one really found you out."

"Couple months? Excuse me," Clark said.

Chloe looked at him and bit her lip. "Yeah," she said.

"And you didn't tell me?" he asked her, ignoring Lois and Oliver completely. "Chloe, come on. Seriously?"

Chloe grabbed Clark's arm and pulled him over to the other side of the balcony. Lois and Oliver didn't follow, they just sort of watched from where they were. They couldn't hear what Chloe and Clark were saying but they tried to piece together the conversation by deciphering their movement.

"Okay right now I think she's telling him to screw off," Lois said and Oliver laughed.

"And then they'll do the Chloe and Clark thing," Oliver chimed in.

"A little bit of arguing and then peace and love and happiness around the world. I say we get a hug or a cheek kiss- maybe both- in 30, 29, 28..."

"Oh come on, Clark. You know up til this last month we weren't really doing our best bud thing. It's not like you came around for chats," Chloe said.

"Okay, I'll give you that, but what about this past month then? It's been good, Chloe. At least that's what I thought. Have I been wrong?" Clark asked.

"You are _not _wrong. This month has been good, Clark. You and me are doing better than we have in awhile...Clark, I just- I wasn't ready to tell anyone, okay? It wasn't that I was keeping it from you, but I had no intentions of telling _anyone_. This was just supposed to be fun, you know, not serious? And I didn't want to have to explain what I was doing or for you to judge me."

"I wouldn't have judged you- at least I would have tried not to. But I guess I can see where you were coming from. I just would want more for you than _ fun._"

"I know that, Clark. And as far as you judging me, I knew it would come from that place. And it's not a bad place at all. There's a wish for happiness for me, and I knew you'd think that this wasn't a good way to be happy. So what I'm saying is that mixed in with me being annoyed, there's still the part that knows you care. That you would have cared- and that means something to me, even if it's all little messed up," Chloe told him.

Clark just shook his head and gave her a bit of a smile and then pulled her in for a hug and then Chloe gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Chloe," Clark said, before they headed back to Lois and Oliver.

"Yeah?"

"I haven't seen much of you two, but from the glimpses I've got here and there, I have to tell you- I don't think you two are just having fun. But I'm shutting up now," Clark said with a lopsided grin.

Oliver and Lois high-fived each other as their commentary basically played out.

"Oliver," Lois said, before Chloe and Clark walked back over.

"Hmm?"

"I don't think you're gonna hurt her and you know I love you, but this is mandatory big cousin protocol- _If_ you hurt her, I'm gonna kick your ass. And you two need to drop this no- strings crap. And then that's it for the Lois commentary. I'll shut my mouth now."

"Lois Lane, ladies and gents," Oliver said with a chuckle.

"Alright, I say it's about time we get the hell out of here," Clark said.

"Sounds good," Lois agreed. "But missy," she said looking at Chloe. "You're _mine _ tonight. So boys, you heard it now- 7 p.m. rolls around and you two go away."

"You two got _told_," Chloe laughed.

"Yeah, yeah," the guys mumbled.

"See you soon cuz. Later, Ollie" Lois said, dragging Clark to the door.

"How many hours til 7 p.m?" Oliver asked

"Not that many," Chloe said.

"Okay then, I guess we should go if we absolutely have to," Oliver said.

"I saw this shop not far from here I think it was called "Fran's Photos" or something. You wanna check that out with me real quick? Maybe they've got some cute photo albums. I think it's time that I buy some new ones."

"Yeah sure, let's do that. Then you don't have to keep them in that box anymore... Okay, so here's the deal, we go to Fran's but you have to let me help you when you do decide to actually put the photos in the albums, at least with some of them."

"Okay," Chloe said.

"Alright. Fran's Photos, here we come," Oliver said.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Okay, I think this is enough for now," Chloe said, putting about five albums back on the shelf. She had eight in the little shopping cart

"I'm pretty sure you've got _thousands_ of pictures in that box of yours, Sidekick. This is _definitely_ not enough," Oliver told her.

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna put all the pictures into albums in one sitting," she said, heading to the cash. "And plus, these ones are my favourites. If I pick up anymore I like them all the same, I'm just gonna end up wanting all of them because I can't decide which I like better."

When she got to the cash, she looked behind her and noticed Oliver wasn't there. He must have seen something he wanted, she guessed. She took the photo albums out of the cart and handed them to the cashier and then was about to hand the woman her credit card.

"Hold on, we're not done," Oliver said, coming over, pushing two carts _full _of photo albums. "These too," he said with a grin, starting to take them out of the cart.

"Ollie, go put them back," Chloe said with a laugh.

"Nope, we're getting them all," he said with a grin.

The woman at the cash smiled. She thought they were adorable. "You really did grab all of them?" the woman asked.

Oliver nodded.

"We just got them in this morning. I counted them all myself. There's 103, if you don't want to take them all out I could just punch one of these in for the other 95."

"Sure, sounds good. We don't need any bags," Oliver said. "We'll just bring the cart to the car."

"Ollie, seriously. Go put them back. I'm good with the 8," Chloe said.

Oliver handed her credit card back to her and gave the woman his instead. "You want them all. You said so. Now you can have them all," Oliver said.

"Okay," Chloe finally said, giving up, laughing a bit. "Thanks."

Oliver smiled. This made him happy. Who would have thought buying photo albums would give a guy so much satisfaction?

Chloe's jaw dropped when the total came up. With the taxes, the bill was approaching $1800. "You're sweet but you're insane and we are _never_ buying photo albums again."

Oliver smirked. Chloe had said _we_. And right now, that was his favourite word in the world.


	11. Chapter 11

o-0-o-0-o Thanks to berry-cool, Go-Chlollie, redqueen11, kdrenai, whatweareafraidof and Naleylover2323xo for reviewing and to those who have alerted and favourited. Let me know what you think of the chapter by leaving me a review. Hope you all enjoy this chapter o-0-o-0-o

Chloe was worried. She was very worried.

"Did you try the power switch?" Clark asked, as he whooshed into Watchtower.

"Didn't you see my text? I lost Oliver," Chloe said. "He was tracking some armed men, followed them under the monorail and then it was like a massive mute button went on. No radio, no beacon, nothing."

"I'm sure it's fine. Just because he doesn't check in-"

"You know, unlike some people, Oliver follows protocol," Chloe said, a little annoyed.

"What protocol?" Clark asked.

"Exactly. He and everyone else dial in with Watchtower while they're on patrol. Clark, you spend so much time watching everybody else's back, you forget that we need to watch each other's backs, too." Chloe told Clark.

"Well, this isn't about us. Did you check the local security cameras?" Clark asked, trying to switch the topic a bit, seeing that whatever he was saying or doing was angering her.

"Every surveillance feed is down - ATMs, traffic lights, convenience stores. It's like someone threw a big blanket over the whole area."

The feed again. She could see what was going on.

"You fixed it," Clark said.

"Or whoever did this finished what they started," Chloe said, less optimistic than her friend.

"Where is that?" Clark asked, referring to what was on Chloe's screens.

"That's where I saw Oliver last," Chloe said, and then she zoomed in and saw someone.

"Jonn Jones?" Chloe said.

"Well your buddy system works," Clark said, complimenting.

"I didn't call him," Chloe said, wondering why he was there.

And Clark was off to see what was up.

And when he got back he told Chloe about the earpiece in Jones' pocket. Chloe was trying to get some info.

"Chloe, it seems to be taking longer than normal to find an earwig serial number," Clark said.

"That's because someone's hidden it, but after cross-referencing those last four digits, Clark, I think that the earpiece in John's pocket was government-issued," Chloe said.

"Why would the government take Green Arrow?" Clark asked.

"Considering what I pay out every year, it better not be for tax evasion," Oliver said, jokingly, walking in.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief and made her way over to him. "Oh my God, you're safe," she said, embracing him.

"Of course I'm safe," he said with a bit of a laugh.

She and Oliver were having a bit of a moment until Clark reminded them of his prescence.

"I'm glad you're safe too," Clark said awkwardly but genuinely. "You want to fill us in on what happened?"

Chloe and Oliver broke apart and they all got down to business.

"Definitely," Chloe said

"Absolutely," Oliver added. "Uh, so, let's see. One minute, I am saving someone's bacon. Next thing I know, I'm the only pig on a pork-chop express. Some harpy gets on a monitor. She starts telling me this is the welcome wagon and she's recruiting heroes for the U.S. of A. I'm guessing you didn't get the e-vite?"

"No, someone else did. And that explains why Jonn Jones was covering for them. Did this woman give you her name?" Clark asked.

"Nope. No name. Just that her organization was called Checkmate," Oliver told him.

"Wait a minute - Check...mate? When Sylvester Pemberton from The Justice Society was murdered, he warned me that, "They came after us, and they'll come after you." His dying word was "check"," Chloe said.

"If he meant Checkmate, these are the same people who took down the JSA," Clark said.

"I searched the archived security footage that was taken from the cameras across the city. This was taken a few hours ago."

"That was right after I confronted him. Who's he talking to?" Clark wondered.

Chloe did her thing and found an answer. "We got a hit from the passport agency. Edward Lott. He's the C.E.O. of a consumer manufacturing company. He seems pretty high- profile for a secret-agent man."

"Well, maybe they recruit people that are already established in the private sector," Oliver suggested.

"Or plant them there," Clark said.

"You're not gonna be happy where he was planted next. Within an hour after this footage was taken, he was on the list of Metropolis General morgue," Chloe said.

"Whoa. Slow down, guys. You can't think Jonn murdered this guy. Come on now" Oliver said, realizing what the other two were thinking.

"Clark, I'll come with you. I can-" Chloe started, but Clark was gone before Chloe could blink. "run support on site," she finished.

"Looks like you got benched," Oliver said, a little bit amused.

Chloe ignored this. "Sylvester Pemberton came to warn me about Checkmate the moment that he was attacked by-"

"Icicle," Oliver finished for her. "Huh. Well, either that's quaintly coincidental or he's working for the same lovely lady whose gaze wilts small trees. What do you think?"

"Last I heard, he was in the psych ward at Met Gen," Chloe said with a plan.

"Let's go," Oliver said, getting ready to head out.

"You know, Oliver- now that Green Arrow is officially on Checkmate's radar, I think it might be a good idea for you to just hang your tights for one night- go civilian," Chloe said.

"Well, they're- they're not tights," he said, making Chloe smile. "They're not tights," he insisted again. "But I see your point," he conceded. "Yeah. Hmm. Unfortunately for me, that means attending a LuthorCorp shareholder dinner, which- yeah, I'd rather be shot at," Oliver said as Chloe got ready to head out. "Hey, Chloe," he said, and she turned around. "Umm... I was just gonna say be careful out there, cuz it- there's Checkmate agents everywhere. So- be careful."

Chloe gave him a smile as she walked out the door. Oliver watched her go with a mix of worry and amusement.

o-o-o-o

Chloe was not a happy camper right now. Nope, not at all. The guy she was trying to get info from at the hospital was a Checkmate agent and now she was here. She'd been kidnapped.

_Just freakin' fabulous!_

o-o-o-o

On the other side of town Oliver and Tess discovered some secrets about each other. Tess found out that Oliver was the Green Arrow and Oliver found out that Tess was working for Checkmate. Clark barged in and brought Tess out to the roof and threatened her into talking. She told Clark that when Oliver had been kidnapped- he hadn't actually been the real target. The real target was something called Watchtower.

Clark had rushed away again and Tess went back inside to speak to Oliver again.

"What the hell do you want? Round 2?" Oliver said sarcastically.

"Oliver, Clark's in trouble," she told him.

"Well, you know, Tess, if you wanted a rematch, all you had to do was ask," he said snarkily.

"I'm serious. He made me tell him where Checkmate's headquarters are after he found out they captured something called "Watchtower,' " she said seriously.

And suddenly Oliver's demeanour changed. And something inside of him completely sunk.

_No. Hell no._

o-o-o-o

Clark was face to face with the woman who was responsible for kidnapping Chloe. She wanted to know where Watchtower's central database was. She wanted to know all the team's heroes identities and much more.

Amanda Waller had Chloe on the television screen. She was gagged and tied and had a gun pointed at her head.

"Let her go," Clark demanded. "Release her now."

Amanda Waller was not cooperating with Clark. She wanted what she wanted and was not going to budge. She had some choice words for Clark.

"The Blur. He patrols the streets of Metropolis, protecting every citizen he can. But he- he lets the most valuable ally fend for herself," she said.

Those words struck at him like someone hitting him with a Kryptonite rock.

"I did not abandon her," he said immediately. She had struck a nerve. And now he was thinking about another time.

"Didn't you? You left your greatest asset vulnerable. All you have to do to save her life is give one simple address," she told him.

The power went down and Clark took this opportunity to act. He moved like light to find Chloe. And as the bullet that was intended for Chloe was fired, Clark arrived just in time to keep it from getting to her. Within the blink of an eye Clark had Chloe out of there and back to where she wanted to be.

"Boy, am I glad to see your friendly face," she said. "Did you, uh...?"

"No. I didn't tell her anything," Clark said.

"At least we have that," Chloe said, getting back down to business.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I'm sorry for everything."

It was good to hear him say sorry, but somehow, right now, she didn't want to talk about this with him because she had a feeling she knew what he was going to say and what he'd be apologizing for- and while it would be nice to hear, it wouldn't be everything that needed to be said, and she was a little bit annoyed that he still wouldn't be able to quite get that. That, and the fact that he wasn't the only one who'd done things wrong. She had too.

"I think we're both a day late and a dollar short in that department," Chloe said.

"But I abandoned you. I keep seeing you on the sidelines, but the truth is, with Watchtower, you're right in the middle of the game."

"You didn't abandon me, Clark. You pushed me out of the way," she said out loud, trying not to be harsh.

_Yes, you did abandon me and that freakin' killed me, but the worst thing is that you lost_ _your faith in me. You forgot who I am at my core, you forgot everything you and I have been_ _through. You forgot that my instinct is to protect you. You thought I chose Davis over you. You_ _pushed me away and you stopped trusting me before I began my spying Big Sister ways._

"Maybe I thought you'd be safer there," Clark said.

_You probably did. I _know _ you didn't stop caring about me completely. I know by now that_ _that isn't possible for us. But you changed. You stopped trusting me. You pushed me away and_ _maybe somewhere in your mind you _did _ think you were doing something good for me, but it was_ _mostly just about keeping me away and not having to depend on me anymore- not having to try_ _to trust me. Whatever, for now I'll just say what needs to be said to clear this, but we both know_ _there's more than we're saying- the something that we eventually need to say if we're really_ _going to fix this._

"Maybe you just didn't trust me. I've broken your confidence in me, Clark. You saw Watchtower as Big Brother, and you turned away. The less you confided in me, the less you had to depend on me. It's smart- probably," she said aloud.

"I didn't give you enough credit. You're the one who brought us together. You're the one who saw our potential."

_Thank you for acknowledging that._

Chloe was angry. She was angry that this Checkmate crap had to have happened now because it was bringing up stuff with her and Clark that they weren't ready for yet, stuff that they were working toward. She thought that this might be a step back, she _felt _like this was a step back.

_I hate you, Checkmate._

"That potential's gonna be short-lived. Waller saw our faces, and she's not gonna stop coming after us," Chloe said, sticking to business.

o-o-o-o

Oliver was with Tess again.

"I didn't think you were gonna show," Tess said.

"Well, you know, I figure it's a public place. There's only so many weapons you can throw at me."

"I'm sorry. For everything I've done that's destroyed your trust," Tess said.

"I don't think there's enough stationery for that, Tess."

"I told you how to shut down The Castle's power grid. That's worth something, isn't it?" Tess said, hoping for- what was she hoping for exactly? Forgiveness? Sympathy? Understanding?

"What am I supposed to do here? You want me to do, uh, handstands because you helped solve a problem that you created?"

"I never would have gone after you if I had known that you were the Green Arrow," she answered.

"So, it's back on me?" Oliver asked.

"This might be the last time that I ever see you. When I joined Checkmate, I took an oath- an oath I want to break. But there's only one way to leave Checkmate," Tess said.

Oliver sighed and finally sat down. He wasn't really sure what he was feeling. There was compassion _and _ anger.

"What are you gonna do?" he asks Tess.

"I'm gonna go AWOL. I'm gonna go underground," Tess said, really hoping he wasn't hating her.

Okay, he wasn't going to lie; he felt bad for her. He felt sorry for her at the moment, but it wasn't really weighing anything compared to the anger. "That's good. You know, I gotta ask you a question, though. Did it hurt to do something moral for once, Tess? Did it hurt you?"

That wasn't the reaction Tess wanted. "Oliver... I'm taking a chance just being out here with you in the open."

"Yeah, okay, I understand that," Oliver said, relenting a tiny bit. "Okay, we've gotten that far. What is it that you want? You're asking me for something. What is it you want? What do you want?"

"Forgive me, Oliver. Oliver, I need your help. Please," she said, touching his hand.

Something in Oliver softened for a moment. "There are times when I wish I could go back - those Santorini sunsets... your freckles... and your big dreams of changing the world. Back when I could trust you," he said thoughtfully as Tess was remembering those times, but then the softness went away. "Then you betrayed me, Tess. You, of all people." Oliver started to get up again. "And if you ever come near me or my friends _ever _again... I will expose you to the world. Do you understand?" he said and then he walked away.

Part of him felt bad for what just went down, but the other part, the bigger part couldn't just give Tess a free pass... All thoughts of Tess vanished from his mind when he saw Chloe.

"Hi," Chloe greeted.

"Hey," he said back. _She's fine, Queen. Look at her. You're seeing her with your own_ _eyes. She's safe and she's here._

"Thanks for keeping my seat warm at Watchtower," she smiled.

"You're welcome- don't get used to it," he chuckled.

"Oh, but your timing is so good. I mean, if you hadn't flipped that Castle's electric switch when you did, I would-"

"Chloe-" he started

"But I- you know, I kind of liked being out in the field, knowing I had a warm bed to come to," she said, enjoying the little conversation.

"That's very, very funny," Oliver said. But then he got serious and he wondered if what he was going to say was going to scare her off and make her do her Chloe thing. He hoped not, because she needed to know that he had been freaking out tonight.

"You scared the life out of me," he told her and he waited to see how she would react.

_Don't freak out Sullivan. No more of that. It's okay that he was worried. Remember what_ _you decided. Just go with the flow and let whatever happens happen. You were freaking out_ _earlier, too when you thought something happened to him- just go with it. It's okay._

"You better be careful, Ollie. I'm gonna start to think you're falling for me," she said gently, teasing. She said the words and she felt fine about it. And what shocked her was that as she said the words aloud, she found that she wasn't _so _freaked out anymore. The idea that Oliver was falling for her, well let's be honest, had fallen for her, actually didn't scare her today.

Oliver smiled at her and they walked away hand in hand and Chloe didn't even try to pull away. She'd let him keep her hand in his. She wasn't going to lie, this was still awkward for her, this sweet type of closeness- but it wasn't scaring her and it didn't feel bad at all, and it made him happy which made Chloe smile. He didn't want a lot from her, it was only fair to do what she could in return. And honestly, after the day they'd both had, she was just really happy to see him- relieved actually, and she wasn't going to push him away.

"Just so you know, you're staying with me tonight, Professor," Oliver said casually and Chloe couldn't help but laugh.

"Am I? When did I decide that?"

"Well you actually didn't. That was all me. But I figure, since you scared the hell out of me and nearly gave me a heart attack, you're in no position to say no, and you can't use Watchtower as an excuse either because no one's on mission tonight."

_You've stayed with him a few times before. Don't freak out. It's fine. Don't think for once._

Chloe laughed again. "I suppose we can do this your way tonight, Blondie, as long as there's food involved because I'm kind of starving," she teased. "We just have to stop at my place for a minute so I can grab a couple things then I'm all yours."

_Sullivan, I _wish_ you were all mine. I'm working on it._

Chloe was pretty much in and out of the Talon. She'd just grabbed an extra change of clothes and her toothbrush and scrawled out a note for Lois.

"Alright Ollie, I'm good. Let's get out of here."

"That was fast," he chuckled.

"I told you all I needed was a minute," Chloe laughed, dragging him out the door with her.

"I know your car is right here, but be kind to me tonight, Sidekick. Let's not use your car tonight. _Please_, my legs couldn't handle it," he joked.

"Fine, fine," Chloe said dramatically, which made Oliver laugh.

"You wanna walk or should I call for a car?" Oliver asked her.

"We can walk if you want to. It shouldn't take long, but the _second_ we walk through your doors we're grabbing the take-out delivery menus and ordering from about five different places because I want lots and lots of food."

"I'm calling for a car," Oliver laughed. "We'll get you food faster that way, then we won't need to get it delivered."

"And by a car, you do mean an _actual _car right? Chloe Sullivan does not do limos," she said.

"Yes, Chloe," he laughed. "An actual car will come."

"Okay, go ahead and call and for a car... God, that's such a rich boy thing to do," she said, teasing him.

Oliver just grinned at her. "Where should I tell them to get us?"

"How about at the corner of the street behind Mario's. There's usually no one around there," Chloe suggested, beginning to cross the street.

Oliver told whoever he was talking to where to pick them up and then when he was done he gently teased Chloe. "I knew it would only be a matter of time before you realized you were out walking with me and started to freak out that someone might see us."

"I'm not freaking out. I'd say I'm pretty calm, actually. Give me a little credit Mr. Queen, I'm doing well for a girl who's big on her privacy," Chloe told him.

"I'm just teasing," he grinned.

"You wanna do me a favour, Ollie?" Chloe asked with a sweet smile plastered on her face.

Oliver looked at her and chuckled. "What do you want, Professor?"

"Coffee, like _right_ now, but I don't wanna go in there because the guy sitting at the counter, while I'm sure is perfectly nice, annoys the hell out of me... Yeah and I know you're gonna say something like 'Coffee? Why coffee? We're going to be eating in like fifteen minutes.' But I don't care," she laughed. "I need some coffee now. Please be nice to me."

"Okay, okay. I'll go get you your coffee," Oliver said with a laugh as he left.

"Thank you," Chloe said.

The streets were pretty dead and Chloe was kind of surprised. There were usually more people still around at this time. Maybe it was later than she thought.

_Oh well._

Chloe leaned against the wall and waited for Oliver, drumming her fingers against her leg. It was so quiet outside until she heard someone scream. Some people may have ran into the coffee shop and grabbed Oliver and told him to come see what was up with her, or would have called their alien best friend who could run faster than you could blink and was stronger than almost anything, or call the other speedster buddy she had, but no, this was Chloe, so of course, she headed in the direction of the scream.

She rounded the corner and saw a woman cowering in the corner against the wall.

"Just take the damn purse. Go. Don't hurt me again, please, I'm pregnant," the woman choked out.

"Hey!" Chloe screamed. "Get the hell away from her.

The man turned his attention to Chloe now, coming towards her.

"Bitch, just keep on walking or I'm gonna turn my attention to you," he threatened.

"_Bitch?_ You haven't seen Bitch yet," Chloe seethed, dialling 911 and grabbing for her tazer.

Chloe was a tough cookie, but she wasn't stupid. She wasn't going to try to get into an actual one on one fight with this guy, that's why she grabbed the tazer.

"Run!" she told the other woman.

The man was quickly approaching Chloe, who was giving her location to the police dispatcher as fast as she could.

Chloe didn't know what the man had done to the pregnant woman, but she wasn't moving. It was like she was too scared to move. But she could scream, and she did.

"Someone. We need help. Please!" the woman yelled.

The man wasn't even five feet away from Chloe now.

"Buddy, I _promise _you that if you get much closer you're _seriously _gonna regret it," Chloe warned, ready to user the tazer at any second.

Before the guy could do anything, he was flying backwards and Chloe looked confused.

Then she realized what happened. Oliver and Clark had apparently both just arrived and had the same idea- to shove this guy the hell away from Chloe.

Chloe knew for a fact that there were no cameras in this area so she didn't need to worry about Clark getting caught on tape super-speeding.

"Thanks guys," Chloe said. "It's not exactly what I meant when I was telling him he was gonna regret it, but it worked out well," she tried to sound calm and casual, knowing they'd both want to give her hell for being stupid. "I'm fine. She's the one who needs help. She's pregnant. I don't know how bad he hurt her" she said, making her way over to the woman. She looked to be about Chloe's age.

"Hey," Chloe said gently. "Everything's going to be fine now. He's not gonna hurt you again. I promise. You can open your eyes now," she said as she knelt in front of the woman. "You think you can get up? Here, take my hands. Let me help you up."

The woman opened her eyes and smiled at Chloe. "Thank you," she said, taking Chloe's hands.

"No problem," Chloe said. "I didn't really do anything, though. I just yelled at the guy."

"It's more than that man did. Some guy saw him roughing me up and just walked by. For someone so tiny, what you did was really brave, so seriously, thank you," the woman said.

"You're welcome," Chloe said. "But the actual physical damage to Mr. Ass-Face was done by the Hot Boys, there," Chloe said, pointing at Clark and Oliver.

"Thanks," the woman said weakly.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked her.

Clark and Oliver started to move closer, but Chloe noticed the woman cringe as they did so, so Chloe motioned them not to come closer. "They're good guys, I promise. They won't hurt you," Chloe assured the woman.

"Sorry," the woman said quietly to Oliver and Clark. "It's just-"

Chloe cut her off. "Don't worry, they're not offended. They're cool. But no worries- we'll keep the testosterone on that side of the street for now," Chloe said with a wink at the woman, who managed a little laugh.

"What did he do to you?" Chloe asked.

"I think my baby's fine, he didn't go near my stomach but he punched me twice and then threw me to the ground, but I landed on my butt."

"What the hell happened here?" Clark asked Oliver quietly as Chloe continued talking to the woman.

"Your best friend wasn't thinking with her brain, that's what happened," Oliver said, exasperated. "I go into that stupid shop to get her coffee because she didn't want to come in because there's some annoying guy or something, and then I come out and where the hell's Chloe? Well she's over here ready to throw down with the dirtbag who's like two and half times her size... That's when we both got here."

Clark just shook his head. "Yep, that sounds about right. Chloe, smartest woman I know, but things like this, she does stuff without thinking. Or rather she thinks with her guts, which she's got tons of, instead of her brain. She just wants to help...But she's okay. That's what matters," Clark said.

"Yeah, you're right. That's what's important right now... She's good with that woman, isn't she?" Oliver said. "She seems a lot calmer now. She seems to feel safe with Chloe."

"Yeah, Chloe's doing good with her," Clark said with a smile. "If Chloe herself isn't freaking out about something, she's got an uncanny talent for calming people down and making them feel safe."

"Yeah, she likes to make others feel safe. She tells others it's okay to be scared and ask for help, but she's so damn stubborn that she will hardly ever admit when she's scared or ask for help herself. She can drive you insane," Oliver said, smiling a bit and shaking his head at the same time.

Clark's phone went off and Oliver said, "Everything's fine here now. You can get out of here if you need to."

"If they're both really okay, yeah, I've kinda gotta jet... Okay, I'm gonna go say bye."

Clark walked over to where Chloe was and said, "Now that I can see that everything's Okay, I've gotta go, Chloe "

"No worries. Thanks for the help," Chloe said.

"Anytime," Clark said.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm glad you're okay Miss," Clark said to Selena before heading off.

"Could you do me one favour?" Chloe asked the woman.

"Sure."

"Could you just leave my friend out of what you say to the police. It's just- if he didn't have to deal with anything else right now, it would be appreciated."

"No problem. I didn't really see anything anyway. I kind of chickened out and closed my eyes."

"Okay," Chloe said.

Oliver kept his eye on the creep on the ground. The guy looked like he was trying to get up. "Going after a pregnant woman and a woman who's less than half your size- I _hate_ guys like you. You _don't_ want to get up right now. Trust me" Oliver warned. "Stay the hell down," he said, pushing his foot into the guy's back.

"The police are gonna be here soon. And then you can tell them what happened and I'll tell them what I saw and then I'm sure they'll take you to the hospital just to check that everything's okay. And then I'm sure you can go home and rest up. I bet you're looking forward to that," Chloe said to the woman.

"I'm Selena, by the way," the woman said, sidestepping Chloe's last statement.

"I'm Chloe," she told her, noticing the topic switch. "Umm, I'm sorry if I'm intruding but I couldn't help but notice the side-step there. Do you have a place to go back to?"

The woman took a breath.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this. I don't even know you, but there's something comforting and familiar about you... Okay, so honest answer: no. I don't have anywhere to go to tonight. I got kicked out. My jackass boyfriend kicked me out. I don't have any family around here so I was heading off to the women's shelter. That's why I brought my stupid suitcase."

"The boyfriend... He's your baby's father?" Chloe asked.

"Yep."

"And he kicked you out?" Chloe asked again, shocked.

"Yeah," Selena laughed sadly.

"Wow...Are you really picky about a place to stay?" Chloe asked her, thinking about something.

"I was heading to a shelter, so no, I'm not picky. It's not like I have any money- I _can't_ be picky. There's no money in this purse, that's why I told the guy to take it."

"I'm pretty sure I can help you out," Chloe said, really wanting to do something nice for this woman. "But to do that, I'm gonna need to run away for a few minutes, okay? I'll be back, really, really soon. I promise. And he won't go anywhere, alright?" she said, pointing to Oliver. "He'll stay so you'll be fine. Does that sound okay?" Chloe asked.

"S-sure," the woman stammered. "Thank you."

"Okay, I'll be back in a few," Chloe said, heading over to Oliver. She couldn't resist the urge to kick the creepy mugger guy so she gave into the urge. "Oops? Did I do that?" Chloe said with false sweetness.

The man groaned in pain and Oliver couldn't help but grin.

"Okay, I'll be right back," Chloe said.

"Where do you think you're going?" Oliver asked her.

Chloe smirked. "I'm not going far. You can even see where I'm going. Stop being paranoid. Nothing's gonna happen to me. Watch her and make sure _he _stays down and away from her."

"Hurry up," Oliver said. "You're gonna give me a freakin' heart-attack tonight, Sidekick."

Chloe stopped at the ATM machine and pulled out a bunch of money. Being sidekick to heroes and having a really rich guy for a boss (but only technically, cuz she couldn't really associate Oliver with the word boss) came in handy right now in terms of money. The team wasn't rich, but Oliver paid everyone well. He'd give them all more, but everyone was against it. They did what they did to help people, not for money. Chloe had enough in her account that she could take this much out right now and still be fine for money. She wasn't too big a spender so she'd saved up a decent amount.

After she took out the money from the ATM, she headed over and into the little coffee shop that she didn't want to go into before.

Not even two minutes later, Chloe was back and she had a big smile on her face. Oliver looked at her questioningly, but he could wait. She needed to tell Selena first.

"You've got a place to stay," Chloe said.

"Are you serious?" Selena asked.

"Yeah. It's not big or anything, but it's somewhere cozy and warm. And Rocco and his wife are sweet people. I've seen the room myself before, I think you'll like it. It's just above the coffee shop. I remember Rocco telling me last week that they were thinking of renting out one of the rooms for a little extra money, so then I just thought about you a few minutes ago."

"But I can't afford-"

"Don't worry about that. It's fine. I took care of it. You've got seven months without worrying about a place to stay and somehow I think you'll have everything figured out by then and things will be better anyway," Chloe told her.

And then Selena launched herself at Chloe, and for a second Oliver thought he'd have to intervene but stopped moving and laughed to himself. The woman was hugging Chloe. She was obviously grateful for something.

Chloe was a little taken aback but finally hugged the woman back.

"Thank you _so_ much, Chloe. You don't even know me and you were just kinder to me than most people I've known my whole life," Selena said.

"No problem," Chloe said. "I'm glad I could help."

"I'm gonna pay you back when I can," Selena said.

"Don't worry about it," Chloe said.

"Ladies, the cops are _finally_ here," Oliver called out.

Chloe and Selena made their way to where Oliver was.

"This is the one you want to be putting in the back of your car," Oliver said, pointing at the loser on the ground.

"I need to talk to whoever called us first," the officer said.

"That was me," Chloe said. "I was in front of the coffee shop and then I heard a scream, so I ran over to see what had happened. She was cowering in the corner and he was looming over her, and she had told him to leave her alone and not hurt her again. She told him she was pregnant and told him to just take her purse and leave her alone, but it looked like he was gonna hurt her again so then I screamed. I told him to leave her alone. He yelled at me to keep walking or else he'd turn his attention over to me. I _didn't_ keep walking and so he _did _ turn his attention over to me," Chloe said.

"I take it, that's where _you_ come in," the officer said, looking at Oliver.

"He was coming at her, so I just made sure he didn't have the chance to actually get to her. I threw him to the ground, I think he hit his head," Oliver said.

"Okay miss, can you tell me what happened?" the officer asked Selena.

"Well I was walking and I noticed that he was following me so I tried to change my path, but that didn't work. He ran in front of me..." Selena continued to tell the officer what happened.

"When this is done, we're getting in the car that's now waiting for us, we are speeding to get you food and then we are locking ourselves away in my place for the rest of the night _and _ the morning and then I might let you go in the afternoon, but only if you absolutely insist," Oliver whispered into Chloe's ear.

Chloe bit her lip. "I should put up a fight, just to see the look on your face but I'm kinda drained right now, so there's not going to be any objections here," Chloe said. "I'll hang around in the morning," she said, giving him a poke in the side.

"Ouch," he muttered. "What was that for?"

"I dunno," she laughed. "It's funny. I'm tired."

"Do you need us for anything else?" Chloe asked the police officer. But the woman just shook her head.

"Nope. You guys can head out. Another officer will be here in a minute to haul tough guy here off to a cell," the officer said, cuffing the man on the floor. He still hadn't moved. He was smarter than he looked, Chloe guessed.

He didn't want an ass-kicking so he kept his mouth shut when he knew things weren't going his way.

"As soon as the other officer gets here, I'm gonna take this one to the hospital," she said, pointing to Selena. "It's the end of my shift and I'm heading there anyway."

"Chloe, thanks again- _so much_. And I _will_ be paying you back."

"I told you not to worry about it, alright? It was good to do something nice... When you're done at the hospital and you come back, you just tell Rocco and his wife who you are and they'll get you settled in. I can come check on you tomorrow if you'd like," Chloe said.

"Would you? That would be really nice," Selena said.

"Okay, sounds like a plan. Get some rest and relax. I'll see you tomorrow, probably later in the afternoon. I'm gonna do a bit of relaxing of my own too," Chloe said.

"Have a good night ladies," Oliver said, addressing the officer and Selena.

"You too, Mr. Queen," the officer responded with a grin.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You know who I am?"

"A lot of people know that face of yours. I suggest you get a move on. I'm assuming you're not in the mood for a camera crew, which by the way is beginning to approach us. I guess someone saw you."

"Thanks for the warning," Chloe and Oliver said at the same time. Oliver grabbed Chloe's hand and they headed off.

The car was waiting for them and Chloe and Oliver quickly got inside and the car took off just as fast.

"Alright Professor, what's on the menu?" Oliver asked.

"Fifteen minutes ago I wanted to stuff my face with anything and everything, but I'm more tired than I thought, so let's just grab a burger and fries from whatever is closest so we can hurry up, get back to your place and get comfy."

"Sounds like a plan," Oliver said. Oliver told the driver where to go and then got back to Chloe.

"Okay so before I ask what was going on with you and the woman, I have to tell you that you're a little bit nuts and a whole lot of stubborn. I know it's pretty much against being you, but you need to learn how to ask for help, okay? _Especially_ when there's people around to help. And that's all I'm gonna say about that because I know you're just gonna change the topic anyway," Oliver said, and Chloe couldn'thelp but smile a bit.

"So what was she talking about when she said she'd pay you back?"

"She didn't have anywhere to stay, she was heading for the women's shelter when that creep started to knock her around," Chloe said.

"What about her boyfriend or husband or whatever the guy is to her that got her pregnant in the first place?" Oliver asked.

"_He's _the one who kicked her out," Chloe said, a hint of disgust in her voice.

"What a douche," Oliver said.

"I agree with your assessment," Chloe said.

"That guy is a low-life. I mean, you get someone pregnant, there's an obligation there, even if you're not together."

"But they were together. What she said was 'my jackass boyfriend kicked me out.' What a prince," Chloe said. "Anyway, I wanted to help her. I dunno, I didn't like the idea of her being pregnant and in a shelter. She should be comfortable and shelters are great and all, but I imagine she wouldn't have much space of her own. I can't imagine that it would be all that comfortable... I dunno, I mean she's already got a baby to worry about. She shouldn't have to worry about a place to stay on top of that- and I could help, so I did. ..No big deal, I remember Rocco mentioning last week that he was thinking about renting out one of his rooms so he and his wife could make a bit of extra money. I talked to Rocco, gave him 2000 dollars and he said that would be good for 7 months. He'd been thinking of charging between 275-300 a month- it's not a lot. They're nice people, they really did just want a little extra money at the end of the month."

"That was really nice of you," Oliver said.

"I have my moments," Chloe laughed as they pulled into the take-out lane.

Three minutes later Chloe had a burger and fries in hands. "Yay, food," she said as she took a bite of the burger. "Why didn't you get yourself anything? You want some?" she asked Oliver, offering her burger.

"Nah, I'm okay," Oliver said. "You eat."

"I'm wiling to bet that you haven't eaten all day. Let's not forget that _you _ were kidnapped today, too- not just me. And then you were at some kind of function or dinner thing that I know you didn't actually eat dinner at, that and then you were all flipped out because of me- so here, share with me. Have some," she insisted, shoving the burger into his hand, as she grabbed some fries for herself.

"Okay, okay- if you insist," Oliver laughed, taking a bite out of the burger and then passing it back to her. As he did so, she pushed the fries at him. "Have some."

"Fine, we'll share, but you gotta eat something else when we get to my place."

"Sure, whatever," Chloe said. "I won't give you a hard time. I'm feeling nice," she grinned.

"Oh thank you so much. You're ever so sweet. I know how much you enjoy driving me nuts, so this is appreciated," Oliver teased but then got serious. "You're okay, right?"

"Yes, Ollie. I'm fine. This guy didn't even get the chance to touch me. Yeah, the Checkmate asses threw me around, but I'm fine. I swear. There aren't even bruises," she said, partially annoyed but mostly touched that he was worried that much, that he cared that much.

"I'll even let you check," she added cheekily in a whisper.

_This isn't _SO _ hard, Sullivan, see?_

"I fully intend to take you up on that," Oliver said with a grin of his own.


	12. Chapter 12

o-0-o-0-o Thanks to blue red wing, Naleylover23xo and whatweareafraidof for reviewing and thanks to the people who alerted and favourited. Hope you all enjoy the chapter. leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

It had been three days since she'd woken up with Oliver at his place. It had been three days since she had woken up wrapped in Oliver's arms and tucked to his chest. It had been 3 days since she felt that feeling of peace, calm and happiness. It had been 3 days since she didn't even _try _ to move out of his embrace. It had been 3 days since she actually moved in _closer_ to him. It had been 3 days since he opened his eyes and caught her just staring at him. It had been 3 days since he had to open his stupid mouth and ruin everything.

It had been 3 days since she had been Cowardly Chloe and back-tracked instead of sticking with her idea of letting go and letting things happen. It had been 3 days since they had their fight. It had been 3 hard days.

She tried not to think about Oliver, but it hadn't been working.

'_She's still here. Wow.'_

'_I told you I would stay.'_

'_I kinda thought you were just telling me what I wanted to hear.'_

'_No faith in me, huh?' she joked. 'Besides, even if I planned on sneaking off, you're making it kinda hard. You've got me locked in the iron grip here.'_

'_That you just moved closer_ _into, Sidekick... Better be careful, Chloe. I'm gonna start to think you're falling for me,' he teased her._

_And then her mood completely changed. __'Let go of me Oliver,' she said._

'_Come on Chloe-'_

'_Oliver, let me go. Right now.'_

'_No. Just calm down. Stop freaking out. Why can't you just chill and admit there's at least a little something here?'_

'_Last time I'm gonna say this. Let me go," Chloe said through clenched teeth._

_He hadn't budged._

She had felt like she was being crowded, trapped. She thought she could do this, but it was too much for her. _She _could say stuff like that, but not _him._

_He didn't let go._

_Chloe wanted nothing more at__ that moment than to get away from him and he wasn't letting her go. She elbowed him._

'_Oww' he said, loosening his grip._

_Chloe got up and started to walk away._

'_Yeah, leave, Chloe. You're really good at that. Something scares you, you just leave. Something you don't like- you leave... You know what?_I'm _leaving this time,' Oliver said, pissed off._

_He got up, threw on a pair of pants and a shirt and was out the door before Chloe really knew what was going on._

He had left. Oliver actually left. _There's a reason you never fully gave in, and it's good that you didn't. He was always going to walk away, Sullivan, it was just a matter of when._

Chloe stood inside Watchtower doing whatever she could to keep her mind off of Oliver. Chloe was on the phone with Clark, trying to pinpoint where Lois had been. Clark wanted to know where Lois was last night. Chloe pinpointed the location but Clark wasn't really satisfied with Chloe's answer at first. "There's no reason why Lois would be standing in this spot for two hours last night," Clark said.

"You know, not that I want to wade into the salty ocean of amour that is Lois and Clark, but if you two are playing Mr. and Mrs. Smith now, don't you think there might be a slight trust issue?"

"I'm worried she's holding something back from me," Clark defended.

"It's kinda different when the control's on the other foot... You know, Clark, Lois trusts you. Now you need to trust her."

"I do."

"Right. And that's why you had me lo-jack her keychain... Look Clark, I just checked the time code and if we could rock it back a few hours, you would be standing on Lois' shoulders," Chloe said, and then the line went dead. Clark had figured something out, so Chloe let it be.

Chloe set off to get a few things done and keep Oliver out of her mind. When she finished, she found Clark at one of her keyboards at Watchtower.

"Clark Kent at the keyboard. Have I been downsized in the bureaucratic world of superheroes?" Chloe asked jokingly.

"Just got tired of waiting for you," Clark said.

"Ooh, snap. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the Planet," Chloe said.

"More like the wrong side of Lois, but that'll never happen again. Check this out."

"What exactly caught your better than bionic eye this time?" Chloe asked.

"It's Tess. It was her underground lab that Lois was snooping around last night," Clark said.

"What's with the thermo-radioactive scan of North America?" Chloe asked, a bit of worry in her voice.

"She's storing meteor rock around the continent. She's gonna pay for it," Clark said, and Chloe winced.

"Uhh, Clark, wait. As much as I would love to have Tess out of our lives, you can't take her down for this. You're connecting the dots in the wrong order. These deposits don't belong to Tess," Chloe said.

"Tess is the only one who knows what Kryptonite can do to me," Clark said.

"Except for m-me," Chloe said uneasily, "and Oliver."

And something changed in Clark.

"You and Oliver betrayed me," he said.

"It sounds worse than it actually is," she reasoned.

"You're stockpiling weapons around the world that can kill me."

"Not you- Kryptonians," Chloe insisted.

"I'm Kryptonian!"

"Clark, the weapons are just insurance-"

"In case what, Chloe? In case I turned on you?" he said, knocking her to the ground.

Chloe was scared.

"I was such a fool to think that you could ever understand me. You think you're better than Tess- at least she didn't pretend to be on my side all those years."

"Clark, why don't you hear my side? I mean what if someday there was ever a war?"

"There is a war, Chloe, right now. And you're about to lose it," Clark said, turning to scorch Watchtower's walls with his family symbol before leaving.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. What just happened?" Chloe said, trying to breathe. All of the sudden her heart started racing and for a moment she felt like she couldn't breathe. "He did not just do that. That did not just happen. Clark did _not _ just do that to me. He did _not _ just say that to me," she rambled.

When Chloe got herself under control she headed out. She needed to do some digging. Something had to be wrong. She needed to know what was going on. Not too long later she was underground and was unexpectedly joined by Tess.

"The last time I checked this was private property," Tess said.

"Looks like Tess Mercer's skeleton is finally crawling out of the closet," Chloe answered back.

"Well speaking of being hidden in the closet, how's Oliver doing these days?" Tess asked.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about that," Chloe said, a twinge of protectiveness over Oliver's identity as Green arrow and a bit of possessiveness popping up. _But you don't_ _really even have the right to be possessive. It's not like you ever made him yours._

"And by head, I mean the one that the secret government agency Checkmate is wanting to lop off. That must really suck, to be on the outs of your own walls," she said, getting back to more important things.

"I'm guessing you'd know, since you're not cuddling up to your own cyber screens. I'm venturing that Clark has finally uncovered your kryptonite arsenal."

"This is the last place I sent him," Chloe said, walking around, taking a mini tour of the place. "I should have known that Clark took a walk down the Ruby Red road. _That _explains his lack of Edit button," Chloe said, seeing the red Kryptonite.

"I thought Clark was only affected by green meteor. What's the red do?" Tess asked.

"Basically it turns him into the bad boy every girl dreams of- in her nightmares," Chloe said.

"And why should I care?" Tess asked. "Clark's made it clear that he's not my knight in shining armour, which is why I made my own all-purpose body guard."

"Well believe it or not Tess, this isn't all about you. Sooner or later Clark will out himself and your merry band of Kryptonians," Chloe said.

"If the world gets wind of their existence, there's no turning back."

"But you can protect your alien pet project if you help me find Clark," Chloe said, realizing she needed the other woman's help.

Both started doing a little bit of research on what was going on and then Tess approached Chloe.

"How often does it snow in Seattle?" Chloe asked Tess.

"Not a great time for a game of Trivial Pursuit, Chloe."

"No, seriously Tess. Seattle just had a fluke snow storm with the temperature at sixty-four degrees."

Tess looked at Chloe, confused for a second, but that didn't last long. "Oh, I got it. Thank God for blogging. They saw something vaulting towards the space signal six minutes ago."

Chloe and Tess saw the image. It was Clark and Zod.

"Guess who's coming for dinner- together?" Chloe said. Both women looked less than pleased. They both looked a bit worried. "With powers," Chloe added. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" she asked Tess.

Tess just gave her a little smirk. "What I don't know," Tess said, "is why the sudden bromance?"

And then John Corbin walked in. He wasn't there long though, he got sent off to Clark. Chloe cut the feed and told Tess they'd lost it and sent him in Clark's direction. He could get Clark out of his Red K craze with some Green K. She'd get him to save Clark from doing something he'd hate himself for later.

Another guest arrived soon, but this time it was Lois. Luckily she hadn't seen Chloe.

"Tess. How not surprised am I to see you here. By the way, this is the least secret "secret lab" I've ever been in- twice."

"I'm so sorry to disappoint you Lois, but I doubt that the government is going to want their covert defence programs on the front page of the Daily Planet. So if you could just shhh," Tess said.

"I saw what you did to Corbin. I was on the bus when you sent me on a train trip to Mount Rushmore. You can't cover this up Tess.

And then Chloe chloroformed her cousin. "Sorry Lo," she said.

"You take care of her," Tess said to Chloe, referring to Lois, "and I'll clean the rest of this up to make sure no one will believe Lois' trip down the Rabbit Hole."

Chloe just nodded.

She knew what she did was bad but she didn't want her cousin getting involved with this. She didn't want her to get in over her head. She didn't want anything happening to her.

Since Chloe was too small to carry her cousin, she had to drag her as gently as possible as far away from Tess as she could. She called Bart because she wanted to get Lois out of here quick and because he could keep a secret if she asked him to.

Bart was there before she knew it and she just put her finger to her lips so he wouldn't ask any questions. She pointed at Lois and mouthed 'apartment please' and Bart was back for her before she knew it. Bart stopped her in front of her door and asked. "Do I even want to know?"

Chloe let out a laugh and said, "Probably not. It's nothing really. Don't even worry about this... You wanna come in for a bit?"

"I've kinda gotta jet. I was kinda in the middle of something" he said.

"Shit. I'm sorry," Chloe said.

"No worries, 'Licious. I got you. You can always call me when you need me," he said.

"You're sweet. Thank you _very_much... Hold on a second, let me grab you something to eat. I think I've still got some pizza, if you don't mind it cold. I know how your burn through food," she chuckled.

"I love pizza, hot or cold," Bart told her.

Chloe brought the pizza box and held it out to him. "Take however much you want."

"Just one, beautiful. Thank you," he said grabbing a piece.

"No, thank _you. _Now get out of here and do whatever you gotta do. I'll talk to you soon."

"Later, 'Licious." And then the speedster was gone.

Chloe walked over to the knocked out Lois on the couch and covered her with a blanket. It wasn't cold but she had this thing about sleeping and blankets. Chloe pulled up a chair and just sat beside Lois. She should be waking up soon, and she didn't want her waking up alone. If Lois

asked what happened Chloe would pretend she didn't know what she was talking about. She'd tell her she just got there and saw her sleeping. Chloe really hated lying to Lois, but she didn't want anything happening to her- that and she couldn't tell Lois everything, because that would involve telling secrets she had no right to.

Chloe shook her head and wished life wasn't so complicated, and as soon as she thought of the words complicated Oliver popped back into her head and she started stressing all over again. To rid her mind of thoughts of Oliver and what an idiot she herself had been, she turned her mind to Watchtower and then she remembered that Clark had redecorated her wall with his Kryptonian shield. She'd have to get rid of that.

_Oh what_ _fun!_

o-o-o-o

She'd felt Clark swoop into the Watchtower and she tried to ready herself for anything, though she knew he wasn't being influenced by red kryptonite anymore.

"I didn't think it would be a good idea to get the handy man to repair this," Chloe said lightly, referring to the wall.

"If I had an apology on video, it would have saved me a lot of time this year," Clark said.

Chloe gave Clark a little smile.

"Well, I'd say I did my fair share of trespassing, as well."

"You mean the part where you were amassing the only weapons that can kill me?"

"Yeah, that would be the part."

"Maybe you were the one seeing things clearly from the beginning... There's something I didn't tell you about the future- that your kryptonite armoury was the only thing that saved the world. And me teaming up with Zod- Turning my back on you and Oliver, that wasn't all the red Kryptonite."

"Curious."

"I think it was some sort of wish fulfillment thing for me."

"Clark, if you wanted to redecorate the place, all you had to do was ask."

"It's just that seeing you and Lois together- you're like sisters. The two of you have an understanding of each other- short hand that I've never known."

"We're family."

"That's something I don't have much of anymore... Zod and I, we've, we've been on different sides. We were raised in different worlds- but somehow through the isolation and the burdens- losing our home and trying to manage in somebody else's- he understands things about me that nobody else can. Chloe, he's the closest thing to a brother that I may ever know."

He was making Chloe a bit angry, he knew his words were hurting her a little bit. And he didn't know why but he just wanted to see it in her face that this was upsetting her. He wanted to see that him and her still meant something to her Something had been bothering him since that night with the whole Checkmate mess. She'd been really abrupt with him, almost just trying to brush everything aside.

He'd wondered if she'd just suddenly started to hate him, the way she'd just looked told him he was just an idiot.

She didn't hate him and he hated himself for wanting to see a little bit of hurt on her face. They were still just messed up.

_Did Clark actually mean all that stuff? Or was he just trying to get a reaction out_ _of me,_ _to see if it would hurt, to get back at me for being less than sweet after the Checkmate_ _thing?_ _God, why is everything so messed up? Why am _I _ so messed up?_

"Chloe, I'm _really_ sorry for earlier. I hope I didn't hurt you," Clark said, ashamed.

"That's okay big guy. I'm fine," she said. "I _could _use some help here, though," she said, eyeing the wall.

"That's the _least _I could do," Clark said. And in less than a minute, Chloe's Watchtower walls were looking back to normal.

Clark's phone rang. It was his boss at the Daily Planet.

"Go on, get out of here," Chloe said knowingly. "I'll talk to you later."

"Sor-"

"Don't keep apologizing. It's fine."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later," he said, giving her a smile before dashing out.

And now she was alone and since she had no Watchtower work right now, at least not til the team got there, she had nothing to focus her mind on besides Oliver. Chloe baffled even

herself. Why the hell did she keep pushing him away? Why? She wanted him. She absolutely did not want anyone else to have him. She cared about him- so much. She'd been trying to just be normal, try to ease into being with him, and she'd been doing well, but of course she had to take a bunch of steps back.

_What the hell is wrong with me? For real, what is wrong with me? It's not the Jimmy_ _thing, I've come to terms with that and I forgave Ollie a long time ago for whatever part he had_ _in Jimmy dying. It's not Clark- I'm not in love with him anymore. What is wrong with me? Why_ _do I always push Oliver away?_

Chloe was left asking these questions until the team arrived for the meeting, well it wasn't really a meeting, not in the mission sense. She was updating security for Watchtower. Everyone was getting re-finger printed and codes were being changed and she was going to re-do the voice recognition stuff too.

Victor arrived first. Then Dinah. Then Oliver and Bart and A.C. Chloe had already done all of this with Clark last night. She tried not to look at Oliver very much. Every time she did all she could think of was touching him. She missed him. She wanted him.

"Alright people, we've got passwords and voice recognition done with. It's fingerprint time. Come on Speedster, you're up first," Chloe said, motioning Bart over to her. "Just press your thumb down and then slowly turn it, then do the same with your index finger," she told him.

Bart proceeded to do what she told him, but apparently he wasn't doing it right. "No, no no. Not like that," Chloe said, pushing some buttons, seemingly cancelling that first attempt.

"Give me your hand," Chloe said, and when Bart did, she printed him into the system.

"Yeah I think I'm gonna do it for all of you like that, I don't want anything to get messed up. Okay, A.C. you next... Vic... Dinah... Oliver."

Chloe hesitated before she took Oliver's hand, and that went unnoticed by absolutely no one. Victor raised an eyebrow; Dinah tried not to grin, and A.C. and Bart tried to look a little bit shocked when Vic and Dinah looked at them. They didn't want them to know that they knew something was up between those two.

Chloe shook herself out of it and took his hand and printed him into the system. She dropped his hand the second the scan into the computer was complete.

o-o-o-o

It was kind of freaky how Chloe just seemed to find her way to the cemetery. She hadn't been paying attention to anything. She was heading to the cemetery, that had been the plan, but she just hadn't paid attention to where she was.

Whatever. She was here.

It was night-time. Chloe wasn't worried about anyone else being here right now. Chloe stopped in front of Jimmy's grave, placed a kiss to her hand and pressed her hand to his headstone before she headed to her actual destination. She came here for Davis.

She walked farther in, to the spot where virtually no one besides Bart knew that Davis was buried. She took a seat and pulled her knees up to her chest. Chloe just sat there for a couple moments before she finally spoke.

"I try not to think about you, I really do. It's too much to handle, having you in my thoughts. I mean, the thought of you just triggers so much. And for the longest time I tried to just keep my thoughts of you restricted to 'murderer, meant to kill my best friend, tried to kill me, liar, monster, ruiner of my life.'... Ummm, that's what I've tried to do, but other things kinda always wash up with it, but I just push them away. I'm starting to think that I just have to say it all- and say it to you. I think you- and what I've kept inside is keeping a part of me just crazy messed up. I don't know... Ummm, so here it is. Oliver and Clark were idiots last year. Oliver for saying that I ran off with you cuz I loved you. And Clark was an idiot for thinking that I couldn't love you. But both of them were right, just not in that particular situation.

"Oliver was right in that I kinda did love you. Clark was right in his thinking that I'd never betray my friends for you, because I _never_ did and I never would... I shouldn't have married Jimmy because he wasn't the only one on my mind or in my heart, especially after you kissed me. I don't know if I loved you when I married Jimmy, but I know that I was feeling something strong for you. And I've tried to brush it off as something that resulted because of Brainiac, but that's a bunch of bullshit because I still felt something strong, I felt the pull and connection to you after Brainiac was out of my system.

"I mean honestly, what _wasn't _there about you to be attracted to? You were freaking gorgeous. You were really into me. You were there when I needed you and you were a good guy, and you were sweet to me. We had this connection, and I can say it now, because there's nothing left to lose. We had this connection pretty much since we first met. I tried to keep a certain distance from you because I was with Jimmy... I don't even know what I'm saying- what I'm doing... When I found out about you, you know like Doomsday you and then you came to see me, Oh my God, you scared me and I felt evil and like I was a fool for not believing Jimmy. And for a minute there, when you came to see me at Isis that day, I thought you were after me too. I was scared and then when you caught me after I tried to run from you, you told me you loved me and you said you needed to know if I cared about you. And then I told you that I had thought that I did. And then you asked me to help you die and I agreed, but when we got there, it was hard.

"It was so hard, because I had seen your face. I had seen how you hated the things that you did. A monster, a truly bad guy, wouldn't have come to me trying to find a way to die so that he couldn't hurt anyone anymore. There's always been good in you. I saw that. You told me to do it, to pull that lever and I couldn't at first, and then Clark showed up. And then you guys were

talking and then you said it again, you told me to pull the lever and let the kryptonite in to kill you, and Clark, being Clark said no- not to do it. I honestly don't know if Clark could ever kill. And I had you both in my head. Do it. Don't do it.

"And then Clark told you that there must be something in your life that it was worth giving things one more try for. And you had looked at _me_. And then you told him that it wasn't always about where your heart is. You had said that it was about what you'd done and what you were going to do. You told him that you were sent here to destroy him. And then you started to change and Clark tried to talk but you had yelled that there weren't enough prayers in the world to give you redemption and then you ran at the glass that was separating you from me and Clark. You started to transform because of him, you started to lose your control, so I pushed the damn lever. I was _never_ going to let you hurt him. So whatever was in my heart for you, it didn't matter because when it came to Clark's safety or you I'd choose Clark's safety. My instinct is always to protect Clark. I was in love with him for a long time, but not anymore- but that loyalty, that protectiveness- it was never about romance. In a purely detached way, protecting Clark is protecting the world but in a not detached way, Clark's a part of me. He's family. He's my best friend. He was my hero- still is, but I've got another one now too, and that's totally besides the point ... Man, I'm confused. I'm just ranting here...

"I had pulled that lever and I watched you weaken and I felt like a part of me was breaking or dying... You kept getting weaker and weaker. You were dying and then I just needed to be near you before you were gone. I needed you too see something good before you were gone. I needed you to know that even though I essentially killed you, that I cared about you- that it was never just a one-way thing. You weren't the only one who had feelings. I cared about you too- very much. I came up to the glass and I just stared at you for a second. I put my hand to the glass and then you turned to me with what little energy you had and you placed your hand on the glass too and you _smiled_, like having me right there, that's what you needed. And then your hand fell down and it was done. You were looking in my eyes when you died.

"It killed me, but I didn't regret that decision. Sometimes things are about the greater good... I remember going back to the Talon later. I heard noises so I went to go check the basement. And then I heard your voice telling me not to be afraid, and then I saw you. I kind of thought that I might have a heart attack at that moment. I was confused, how had the meteor rocks not killed you? And then you had said that they'd made you stronger. And then you basically told me that you couldn't die.

"And then I got worried again and I said that that meant that Clark was in danger. I started to try to leave. I had said that no matter what you, as Davis, wanted, the other side of you would try to kill him. I wanted to head off right away to tell him. But then you told me that you wouldn't kill Clark if you were with me. And that had stopped me in my tracks. I asked you what I had to do with anything and you told me that there was something about me that seemed to calm the killer inside. And then I told you that you were the one who said it was your true nature.

"And then you said that maybe there was something stronger out there than your need to kill. And then you asked if I would stay with you. I headed up the stairs with so many thoughts running through my head, but the one that kept repeating was that you said you were immortal

now. That you couldn't be killed, meaning that against you, Clark really wouldn't stand a chance. So with that in mind, what other choice did I have besides to say yes to you? There wasn't a choice. I _had _ to do it. So instead of leaving, I locked the door and I came back down with you. My decision was not for you. If there was a way to kill you right then, I would have killed you myself just to make sure nothing would happen to Clark or to anyone else. But that wasn't possible, so my days of big time lying began, lying _and_ confusion. My life became and emotional rollercoaster.

"At first, that first night, I was just scared. I was so scared that you'd go find Clark. So I stayed with you all night. I was so angry with you. I hadn't even been thinking about the fact that I had been crying over you not even 24 hours before... As the days went by and things were calm and you stuck to your promise to me to stay in the basement and not go out, I started seeing you as just Davis again. I started to believe maybe this didn't have to be the absolute worst thing in the world. You didn't want to hurt Clark and as long as I was around or something of mine was around, you wouldn't. You didn't complain about being cooped up in the basement. You didn't try to get out. I knew you didn't _want_ to go after Clark.

"So we started to share some laughs. You'd be sweet and you'd try to help me with whatever I needed help with. We would talk and I would be reminded why I had had a thing for you in the first place. Even though technically a part of you was the villain of the big story, you weren't really. You weren't a bad guy. You were dangerous and you could be scary, but never to me. You were always good to me. And after a while, having you there in the Talon, feelings would sometimes rush back to me and I would wish that things could be different. I would wish that you were a normal guy. I would wish that your purpose for being wasn't essentially to destroy my best friend in the world. I would have wished for those things because then I could have been with you. I _would_ have been with you. You know, aside from the whole Doomsday thing, you would have been kinda perfect for me. And I could have actually let myself love you without guilt or regret.

"But then things started to get bad again. You, well your bad side, killed that guy who came after me in the Talon. And then I had to carry those bags with what was left of the body and get rid of the evidence. I was so scared again and I knew that I'd just have to try to be around you more, so nothing would happen, but I was worried because the lies I had to tell were only going to work for so long when Clark or someone else would ask why I was just spending so much time at the Talon and not with others.

"It started to become that you could hardly have me away from you and everything was getting harder and I was getting more scared. We couldn't keep going the way we were. I couldn't keep lying, and the police were on your track and Clark was believing more strongly all the time that you were still alive. I was getting more scared that if I l left you for a second, it would result in disaster and you had told me that nothing was working anymore, that you needed me physically to be there with you to keep it under control all the time. And then I decided it. We needed to run away. We needed to get out of Smallville and we needed no one to know where we were. I could _never_ let you hurt Clark, so I made the decision that we'd leave.

"Before we could actually get gone, shit had to happen. You tied up Ollie and Jimmy in the basement, Clark came, Clark found you. Clark was gonna send you off to the Phantom Zone. But I didn't let that happen. I thought that Clark would end up hating himself for it and I didn't want that. He'd blame himself later on, I knew that, so I came and I got you and we got out of there.

"I did what I did for Clark, but as you and me were in the car, I thought that we might be able to make it work, that maybe I could save you after-all. And when we were driving I told myself that I'd made the right decision when I'd decided on Clark's behalf not to send you to the Phantom Zone because in addition to saving Clark the eternal guilt trip, the good part of you didn't deserve to be tormented, didn't deserve that type of horrible existence.

"When we got out of the city and we'd stopped at that gas station and you went inside, I had to call Clark. I had to let him know I was okay. I had to say goodbye to him. There's no way I could just leave him wondering if I was alright. And as I was talking to him, part of me hated you because me leaving with you made him doubt me, and because going with you was going away from those that I loved. And then you came out of the gas station with that stupid little adorable chocolate heart thingy because you remembered that road trips gave me a sweet tooth, and I remembered again the sweet guy that I knew. And I remembered that even though going away with you was to protect Clark, I remembered that I wanted to help you too, that I wanted to try to save you too- you know save you, Davis, from Doomsday.

"We got back in the car and I told myself everything would be okay now. Clark would be safe. Jimmy would be better off without me. I'd be keeping you under control. I would adjust. I'd get used to it. That's what I told myself. And I reminded myself that I had come to love you before all this, that I just needed to think about the good things about you and focus on that. I needed to focus on what I had, and what I had was you. I needed to try to save you, to keep you good... It was literally just you and me now and I knew you loved me and I knew how much you wanted me. Now that we were gone, now that I knew Clark was safe, maybe I could try to let myself love you, you know? The feelings were there before but they just didn't matter compared to keeping Clark safe, they didn't compare to my loyalty to him. And they still didn't, but I told myself that I probably _should_ let myself love you, I mean I ran away with you, right? I think you'd start to get suspicious of me if I didn't let myself love you.

"As the days started to pass, it really finally sunk in that it was just you and me, I wasn't ever letting you anywhere near Smallville or Clark again-and so I gave in a little bit, you know. You'd kiss me- I'd let you. You'd kiss me- I kissed you back. We'd just be lying down and you'd pull me close- I would let you. You'd pull me close- I'd move closer...

"Do you remember that night, you know, when they found us? Remember a little bit before they found us, how we were just lying around. Do you remember when you pulled me close and I got in closer to you? Do you remember what you had said to me? I remember it _so _ clearly. You said _'You know, for a second here and there I kind of thought at first that you were_ _just telling me what I wanted to hear, showing me what I wanted to see when you agreed to come_ _away with me. Now I'm thinking that I'm not the only one who's actually fallen here.'_... Do you know that your words just flashed in my mind the other day? Same type of situation, you know, with the exception that the guy isn't a serial killer and the difference being that I'd actually slept with him and that I don't feel guilty for caring about him, but it was the same type of thing in general.

"I'd woken up with him and he was holding me close and I dunno, it felt nice. I wanted to be closer so I moved in closer. And then he had to wake up and he had to call me on it. He basically said what you had said and I freaked out... Anyway, that's really besides the point and I'm not even really sure what my point is... I'm still kind of messed up here and I'm thinking that maybe I just have to say everything that's in my head, you know, let everything out, then maybe I can get back to normal. Maybe I can stop freaking out on this guy- this genuinely awesome guy that I feel something for. I don't know...

"For a long time, I've been hating you because after I split you, you know, supposedly took the evil part away, you killed Jim- you killed him and you tried to kill me... I felt stupid, so stupid, for believing that you were a good guy. But there was still this part of me that kept this part of you with me... I don't think that stuff worked. I mean I know it _did_ split you, but I really believe it only worked physically. I don't think it actually _really _ split you, because despite everything, I believe that _you _ at _your_ core were a good guy. I know you wanted me, but you wouldn't have killed Jimmy over me. And if it was really you, there's no way in hell you would have tried to kill _me_. I _know _ that, I think that's why I couldn't throw that picture of you and me away, because I knew that it wasn't you who did all that horrible stuff...

"I guess I came here tonight to just get stuff off my chest and I felt like I had to tell you... Umm, when I told you that I only _thought _ that I loved you and you heard that everything I did was for Clark, only half of that was true. _Yes_, everything I did was for Clark, he was the reason for all my actions, but I did think about you too. I wanted to save you too, granted it was the second thought, but I did care about you. I want you to know that I did love you. The words are out of my mouth. There. I said it. I loved you and I'm sorry that I told you differently, but Jimmy was in the room, you know? And he had a part of my heart before you were ever in the picture. I married the man for a reason, I did love him. I loved him a lot. It would have been wrong for me to say that I had loved you in front of him. I was confused and- but it doesn't matter. I came here to tell you I loved you because I wanted you to know.

"And in another life, or if things were different you and me could have been together. But it wasn't another life and things weren't different, and I don't regret protecting Clark at all. I will always protect him because he's destined for greatness and people need him and because he's my oldest and best friend. So there we have it, my loyalty was _always_ with Clark, but I did love you too. I don't know if this is what I needed to do to stop being so messed up, I guess I'll find out with a bit of time. Whether it is or not, I just finally had to say it to you... I've got to go now," Chloe finally said, finishing.

She got up and brushed the dirt off of her pants and headed out, giving Jimmy's headstone a pat before leaving.

o-o-o-o

Oliver prayed that Chloe wouldn't find the little device he'd placed on her jacket on the underside of the belt. She'd kill him if she knew he'd just had her on the screen in front of him.

They may not have spoken to each other for three days, except for team stuff, but he still wanted to check on her, to make sure she was okay. He'd had this feeling earlier tonight that something was wrong with her and he had been worried, but since they weren't really speaking, it's not like he could ask her, and it's not like she'd necessarily even answer him. He decided to take a page out of her book and make sure with his own eyes that things were okay. He'd put a tiny camera on her. He'd just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to do something stupid. He never intended to listen in and spy on what he'd just seen and heard.

Chloe was a complex woman, that was for sure. All he could say after what he had heard was "Wow." He didn't even know where to start on what he'd heard. He didn't know what to say or think. All he really knew is that he wanted to see her. He wanted to be with her right now. The streets were dead tonight. No crimes were in progress. The city was safe for tonight. The city didn't need him, but he needed Chloe and he was pretty sure she needed him too. He would go to her. He'd find her. And he'd be with her- however the hell she wanted it. If she still needed no- strings he'd go back to pretending that's what it all was. He'd keep the affection to a minimum- whatever she needed, he was going to do right now.

Oliver had made his decision. He was going to have Chloe, had to have her, and right now he didn't care how. He just wanted her back. Three days without her had been hard. Three days had felt like forever. He wasn't going another 3 days without her, or another 3 hours for that matter. Oliver headed off to find Chloe.


	13. Chapter 13

o-0-o-0-o Here's the new chapter. Thanks for alerting and favouriting and thanks a lot to berry-cool, redqueen11, Raya, whatweareafraidof, Naleylover23xo, katibous, blue red wing, and Kassie46 for reviewing. I hope you all will enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think by leaving a review. o-0-o-0-o

Chloe walked out of the cemetery and her phone started to ring. It was Lois. It was one in the morning. She was calling to either ask where Chloe was or to tell her she wouldn't be home tonight.

"Hey cuz."

"Hey, Lo."

"I'm not gonna be there tonight. I think I'm just gonna stay with Clark tonight."

"I might not be there either," Chloe said.

"Oooh. You staying with Ollie tonight?" Lois asked, and Chloe knew she was smirking.

"I don't think so. I don't even know what's going on with me and him right now. If I don't go home, I'm probably just gonna work through the night. And no, don't worry about me, and no I'm not up for talking about it right now."

"Okay babe, I won't push it. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you," Lois said.

"Love you too," Chloe answered, hanging up and quickening her pace. She felt like someone was following her.

After about five minutes, Chloe finally said, "Why are you following me?" but she didn't stop walking.

"Okay, so you _did _ know. That's good. Had me worried there for a bit, Sidekick."

It was Oliver, and for whatever reason she felt her heart flutter. She didn't turn around, but she slowed her pace. "No need to worry about me. Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on the city, Archer?"

"City's dead tonight. I've been out here for hours. City doesn't need me tonight... You're not even gonna turn around to check if it's really me?" Oliver asked

"I _know _ it's you. I don't need to check," Chloe said.

"But maybe you want to," Oliver said.

"Maybe I do," Chloe admitted as she finally turned around

"Maybe you miss me a bit?" Oliver tried.

"Maybe _you _miss me," Chloe said back.

"No, there's no maybe. I _do _miss you," Oliver said.

"I might have missed you too," Chloe said quietly.

"Yeah?" Oliver asked in a teasing tone.

"Yeah," she answered.

"You not mad at me anymore?" Oliver asked her.

"Nah. You mad at me?" she asked.

"No," he told her.

And there it was. Fresh start. They were okay.

"So since Green Arrow doesn't have a city to protect tonight, you maybe wanna hang out?" Chloe asked.

"That would be good," Oliver said.

"Have I ever told you that you look extremely hot in your Green Arrow gear?" Chloe said after a moment, a smirk on her face.

"Maybe once or twice, but let's be honest, I love to hear it," he said.

Chloe looked up at him for a moment and then finally mustered up some courage. She didn't really know what to say to him, but she knew that he hadn't deserved her freaking out on him the way she did the other day.

"I'm sorry," she told him quietly. "I really am."

"I know," he told her with a small smile. "It's okay."

"If you're sure the city doesn't need you, why don't you meet me back at the Talon in a bit, after you put on some civilian attire."

"What, you don't want to be walked home by the Green Arrow?" Oliver asked jokingly.

"I never said I didn't want to be. It's just probably not the best idea," Chloe answered with a little laugh. "If anyone is lurking around anywhere, you coming to my door is probably not the best way to protect your identity," Chloe said in a lower voice.

"You're probably right, which really isn't new," Oliver admitted. "Why are you out here at this time anyway?" he asked her.

"Needed some air...If you're really keen on still doing the hero thing though, and making sure the girl gets home safe, you could just stalk me from the rooftop," Chloe joked.

"That sounds like a good idea actually. I'll see you in a bit, Professor," Oliver said, vanishing into the night. But not for long. Chloe saw him on a rooftop a couple minutes later and tried not to smile too much.

She had missed him. She really had.

o-o-o-o

"Of course Lois is late," Chloe muttered to herself with a little laugh. She quickly forgot about her cousin being late, however, when she heard the beep of her phone that indicated she had a message to be viewed.

She looked down at her phone and saw that it was the Emerald Archer, a.k.a Oliver, a.k.a the guy she couldn't get out of her head. She smiled big before even reading the message, but smiled a little bit bigger when she saw the message:

_You should see the city from up here._ And he'd sent a picture too. And then she shook her head a bit. _Don't get all pathetic, Chloe. It's_ _nice, but don't get all stupid._ Chloe was still fighting whatever was going on with her and Oliver, not always, but sometimes. She was trying. _She was._ But she was scared of what she had started to feel again, because feelings like that hadn't ended well for her before, and because- well- just because.

Lois arrived and Chloe turned her attention to her cousin.

"Chloe! Can you believe it, I'm early," Lois said.

"No, Lois, early is when you arrive at your destination by said time, not when you can see it from seven blocks away."

"Uh-uh, nobody is raining on this girl's parade today. Clark's taking me up to the roof to do a little stargazing," Lois said.

"Okay, that explains the 911 to the Craig's List queen," Chloe laughed.

"Long live the queen," Lois said with a smile. "I can't believe you got one so fast. I kinda noticed Clark has this thing for telescopes. Think he'll like it?"

"I think he'll love it," Chloe said. "But what is it exactly that merits seventy-six trombones and a big parade?" Chloe asked, both women taking a seat at a table.

"Well, tonight's the night, in the words of the General, it's time to drop the L-bomb."

"What?" Chloe said, honestly surprised. "You mean to tell me that you guys haven't volleyed _the_ word yet?"

"Among other significant relationship milestones. I dunno, things used to be easier with Clark. Back in the days when you'd wake up and the first thing you do is check for a text or an email and it'd be there waiting for you."

Chloe smiled a bit at her cousin's words and pushed her hair out of her face. Her cousin had just described _her. _That had been Chloe lately. _Oh man._

"Anyway, things have been different ever since we decided we could keep secrets from each other. But that's all changing tonight."

"Wait a minute. Secrets?" Chloe asked. "Changing how?"

"No more secrets. It's time to take our baggage out of the closet. I mean, if we 'L' each other, then _nothing_ should come between us," Lois said, and Chloe got worried.

When she was done with Lois she dashed off to Clark's. "Hey! Do you ever check your voicemail?" Chloe asked him, not exactly in a great mood.

"Looks like somebody missed breakfast in bed with Oliver this morning," Clark teased.

"I'm not here to talk about my love life," Chloe said.

"That makes two of us."

"I'm here to talk about yours," she said.

"Whoa. Can't we just stick to a topic like aliens assimilating to earth?"

"This isn't about assimilating, Clark. Zod has powers now. And you told him all of your secrets. This is not a good time to bring in Lois, too," Chloe said, wanting to keep Lois away from all this craziness.

"Lois?" Clark said.

"Yeah," Chloe answered. "She told me about your big date tonight where you both are gonna come clean with everything."

"I'm not gonna tell Lois anything. I'm making Lois dinner tonight so she shares _her_ secret. She's been keeping something from me. I didn't want to use my abilities to spy on her. It's been driving me crazy."

"So you're gonna seduce it out of her?" Chloe asked him. "Clark, you're the reason this is all happening to begin with."

"I have not called her as the Blur in months," Clark insisted.

"That doesn't matter, Clark. The second that your Back in Black alter ego asked Lois to lie about the Blur was the day that you asked her to lie to the person she loves, which is you... And she did."

"A relationship with secrets can never work. Look at you and Oliver, everything's out in the open," Clark said.

Because Chloe was Chloe, all talk about her and Oliver freaked her out, no matter how hard she was trying not to be a freak about it all.

"That is because we both understand that our relationship comes second to a higher calling," she said, trying to downplay her and Oliver. But then she just realized she said 'relationship' and she kind of did a little bit of freaking out on the inside. Okay, a lot of freaking out, but she needed to get her mind back to Lois and Clark. "Clark, you and Lois-"

"Don't have to be any different. Now if Lois was going to trust me, then maybe it's time I trusted her," Clark said leaving.

And part of her agreed with him. She wanted him to tell Lois, because she wanted him to be honest with her cousin. But the other part, the part that worried and loved Lois and just wanted her to be safe, that part felt like she shouldn't know. Chloe was conflicted on just about everything. But she didn't really have time to think about these things. She had things she should be doing. She calmed herself down and cleared her head and headed off to Oliver's office.

o-o

"Oliver gave you keys to his office. He must trust you with just about all his secrets," Tess said.

"Tess. I thought you were supposed to be underground," Chloe said, keeping her voice normal. "You know if you're having a hard time finding your way there, I'm sure I can help."

"So we're over the temporary truce and straight back to fire at will. Okay. Just remember, Chloe, that out there I might be MIA, but in here, I'm still CEO... Where is Oliver?" Tess asked.

"Out of town," Chloe said innocently with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"I was curious how you two got into each other's orbit," Tess said.

"Mutual friends," Chloe answered. "Which I understand you could use some help finding, considering the fact that you have to go to outer space to look for them."

"The Kandorians? You'll see, Chloe. They're better as allies than enemies. Clark gets that. Why don't you and Oliver?"

"Clark optimistically thinks that Zod will be happy wearing an apron and slinging coffees. We don't, especially now that he has powers," Chloe said, gathering her things.

Tess caught something in there. "We?" she asks. "As in you and Green Arrow?"

Chloe stopped in her tracks momentarily.

"Chloe, I get what you see in your heroes. But what do they see in you?" Tess asked.

"I could ask that same question about you, but I guess I don't have to anymore. I've been watching you too, and it seems like Zod hasn't been home for dinner in quite awhile... Be careful Miss Mercer. At this rate you're going to run out of people to betray," Chloe said before leaving.

_I _don't _ like that woman. Uggh!_

o-o-o-o

"Lois will find a way to see Sachs before the party tonight. Chloe, I have to find him first," Clark said.

"Look, I get it, Clark. I'm spending a small fortune of Oliver's money to update the security system here at Watchtower, plus I have a satellite trained on your Fortress at all times now that Zod knows your zip code. I understand the instinct to protect the ones that you love," Chloe told him and Clark smiled a bit.

"Half of being in a relationship with Lois is protecting her from herself," Clark said.

"Actually, she's not the only one Sachs is gunning for right now. According to the internet, he's offering a million dollar reward for anyone who can supply him with an image of the Blur."

"Again. What is it with this guy and his obsession with the Blur?" Clark asked.

"Maybe it had something to do with the fact that you publicly disgraced him and threw him in prison," Chloe said. "Since he's been out I have a hard time tracking him down."

"Well, Sachs is all about the VIP treatment. Maybe he's got a favourite bar or restaurant," Clark said, which got Chloe thinking.

"Some place he would want to go to after being locked down for eight months... Our paroled prosecutor does have a favourite haunt, but it isn't exactly five star," Chloe said after finding what she was looking for.

And Clark was quickly off.

"I take it your search for Sachs didn't go so well," Chloe said when Clark came back.

"I found Sachs but I may have just lost Lois. At least her trust."

"Oh no, I know that look. What happened?" Chloe asked, approaching Clark.

"I did this to myself, Chloe," Clark said. "I asked Lois to keep her calls with the Blur a secret, and she did. Even from me. And now someone else is calling her, pretending to be the Blur."

"Why? Who would want to Blur a mile in your shoes?"

"Checkmate, Zod, Tess. They've all been circling my secret... I stole her phone to see who she was calling. She's already deleted the list."

Chloe took the phone from Clark. "You know, as much as I don't want to, I have to say, it's pretty impressive how committed Lois is to protecting the Blur."

"From me," Clark said.

"Talk about a Kafka-esque nightmare," Chloe said.

"I almost ended it all and told her everything, til she reminded me why I could never put her in that kind of danger. I need to find whoever's lying to Lois using my identity. She said she had something to tell him."

"And you want Watchtower to trace the call. Got it," Chloe said. Chloe did her thing and she had Clark listening on Lois's chat with the fake-Blur and Clark was quickly off to make sure Lois didn't get into loads of trouble.

o-o-o-o

"Chloe, when did you find this? Can't you get a clearer picture?" Clark asked, referring to the video Chloe was showing him.

"Okay, one at a time. I was following Lois just in case she found Sachs before you did, and I got the security footage from the camera sixty floors up. Now unfortunately zoom technology isn't exactly on par with X-Ray vision."

"Where was Lois taken?" Clark asked.

"I dunno," Chloe answered. "I lost the car."

"This has to be Sachs," Clark said.

"I did some digging. Right around the time our devious D.A. walked, all his new little prison friends who were sent up the river were transferred off the grid."

"Chloe, I know these guys. I put every one of them behind bars. They're all violent offenders and the only person who can authorize their transfer is the governor."

"Who did you say threw Sach's Welcome Home mobster ball?" Chloe asked.

"Some tycoon named Maxwell Lord."

"Three guesses who the largest contributor to the governor's re-election fund was... With that kind of influence, Lord has some serious strings he can pull."

"If Lord wants the Blur, that's exactly who he'll get," Clark said, determined, as he dashed off.

o-o-o-o

"I guess the upside to unemployment is you don't have to pick out a tie every morning. You're beating yourself up, aren't you?" Chloe said when she saw Clark again.

"Oh, which me? The Blur that Lois would die to protect or the boyfriend that Lois is protecting him from?" Clark said.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Clark. Not everyone with a press pass is also moonlighting as the city's greatest superhero. And the whole phone-rooftop- Blur thing. At least give yourself creative points for trying to be as honest as you could with Lois," Chloe said, trying to comfort him.

"I guess if half of me has Lois' trust and the other half gets the rest of her, it all works out in some weird way."

"There's only one problem with that. One of those halves has to say goodbye... I finished tracing the number of our rogue Blur- to RAO industries. It was Zod," Chloe told him.

"Everything he said about brotherhood, it was all a lie. Of course he's been the one using Lois."

"I know you wanna go and take your anger out on Zod right now, but you and I both know that there's something you have to take care of first. Until you can tell Lois that you are the one and only Blur, anyone with a voice modulator and a calling plan can pretend to be you."

"I know what I have to do," Clark said and Chloe patted his shoulder.

"Life, huh?" Chloe said with a tired smile.

"Seriously," he chuckled. "Thanks, by the way. For everything, which I know I don't say enough. I'm gonna go get on doing what I need to do... You- _you _ should go and relax or see Oliver or something. Do something relaxing. Don't think about anyone else for awhile. Have some peace, because God knows you deserve it.

Chloe smiled at him. "Thanks and good luck with Lo," she said, ruffling his hair a bit.

Chloe was in the mood to be comfy. She decided she'd go back to change her clothes and then she'd head back to Watchtower. Bart was on mission tonight and she'd be online with him. Chloe grabbed the clothes she wanted and then she was off- back to Watchtower.

Five hours in Watchtower flew by really quickly. Bart's mission went off without a hitch and Chloe had even done some cyber-snooping too before linking up with Clark during his patrol. Chloe's cell phone rang. It was Selena. The two women had spoken quite a bit recently and Selena had really started to build an attachment to Chloe. Selena was still pretty new to the city and she really didn't have anyone, so Chloe was happy to help or just listen to her.

"Hello."

"Hi Chloe. How are you? Are you busy right now? Or sleeping, I know its late" Selena said.

"I'm alright. How's the mommy-to-be?"

"Do you have some time to talk?"

"Yeah, sure," Chloe said.

"I'm sorry for constantly burdening you with all my crap but you're a really good listener. If you get sick of me you need to just let me know and I'll shut up."

Chloe laughed. "I'm happy to listen. Don't worry about it. Now lay it on me. What's up?"

"I saw my boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend, cuz God knows I'm never getting back with that loser again- anyway I saw him and then he starts spewing all this stuff about 'well that's my kid so you better make sure that kid has my name when it's born' "

"Oh that sounds lovely," Chloe said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah. Just awesome. I mean like what the hell? If he was so big on this 'my kid' crap, why the hell did he kick me and 'his kid' out. Like he's got any right to demand anything from me. And it's not like we're married either. I don't even have to put his name _anywhere _in my kid's name. I'm the one doing all the work here. The only name this kid is having without a doubt is mine. If the loser gets his act together and starts helping me out and stops being a douche I'll hyphenate the name, but that's as much as he's getting. It's funny because even if I did marry him, I'd always planned on my child having hyphenated name- you know, so they'd know that that was my kid too because I'd never had any plans to change my own last name."

Chloe looked at her camera feed and saw that Oliver was back and he was coming up. She was happy to see him. She had forgotten about Selena for a second, but then she got back to her.

"I never had any plans to change my name either, and I never did. I was born Chloe Sullivan and I'm gonna die Chloe Sullivan."

"You and Oliver are MARRIED?" Selena asked, or rather squealed.

Selena said this just as Oliver walked through the doors and Chloe nearly choked on her coffee. Chloe threw her phone down on the table as she started to cough. Oliver practically ran over to her, but Chloe held out her hand- hoping he'd understand she just needed to cough it out. It was over in about thirty seconds. Chloe gave Oliver's hand a squeeze and then picked up the phone again.

"What the hell happened to you? Are you okay?" Selena asked, now sounding frantic on the other end of the phone

"I'm okay. Your question just kinda shocked me is all. And the answer to what you asked me is No. And there's nothing-"

"Okay, I know when to back off," Selena laughed. "You were just about to say there's nothing going on with you guys and that's a load of crap, but I get it. He's kind of a celebrity. You want privacy that's fine... Tell me about the other part though. Were you really married before? That's crazy."

"Yeah I was. It didn't last long though. Is it really that crazy to picture?" Chloe said with a laugh, but she had a feeling she'd have to cut off the conversation soon. She wasn't really up for talking about her wedding from hell and then the fact that the man she married was now dead.

"There's no way you're older than me. What are you, like 22? It just seems young to be married" Selena said.

"Close, I'm 23. I was 22 when I did, though. But that chapter of my life is over now... Anyway Selena, back to you. Is everything else okay besides the boyfriend being an ass?"

"Yeah, the rest is alright besides the loser. I'm sensing you gotta go," Selena laughed. "So I won't keep you any longer. Thanks for listening to me rant. I'll talk to you soon."

"No problem, you know I don't mind. Okay, have a good night," Chloe said, hanging up.

"Hey you," she finally said to Oliver with a smile.

"Hey back," Oliver said. "What the heck happened a minute ago?" he asked her as he pulled her over to the couch with him.

"She just said something that kinda shocked me, and of course I happened to be drinking my coffee at the same time, which let me tell you, was not a good thing... Anyway she's just in a mood right now cuz she saw her ex and he started making demands that frankly he had no right to make," Chloe said.

"Like what?" Oliver asked as Chloe pulled his jacket off.

"You're making me warm just looking at you with the jacket on- it needed to come off," Chloe explained and Oliver laughed. "Anyway, it was the first time she saw him since he kicked her out and then he basically tells her that she'd better give the baby his name. Like who the hell does he think he is? He's got no right to demand anything from her. He hasn't helped her with anything, he kicked her and the baby she's carrying out. I'm sorry, that nullifies any kind of claim he has on that kid in my eyes. And then she brought up marriage and the whole changing your last name thing and then I told her I never did, and yeah there you have it," Chloe said.

"So many women do. Why didn't you?" Oliver asked her.

"Because I didn't want to," Chloe said. "Because I don't like the implications behind it. I know pretty much all our moms did it and whatever, and I'm sure they never saw it the way that I personally see it, but to me, for me, it would have been like erasing who am I and where I come from- to what, become Jimmy's little wife and that's it? Your last name tells people who you are. It tells them where and who you come from. It's part of your identity-so what, why would I change my identity? Why would I have to become someone else? I don't think that's fair... To me, it would have been like saying 'Hey daddy, you only raised me and protected me, but I'm brushing you away now, I'm not your daughter anymore, now I'm someone's wife _instead, _but not also.' The whole changing the name thing just irks me because to me, marriage is supposed to be this union, this partnership.

"Building lives together. Bringing two lives together. Where is the partnership, where is the bringing two lives together in that? That to me just seems like the woman belongs to the man now and who she is doesn't matter, it only matters who he is, and that's not right to me. That's just how I see it. And like I said, I know all our moms did the last name change thing and that they didn't see it this way, and I mean no disrespect to any of them or any women who do it now. I won't judge anyone. Like when Lana married Lex. And I know for a fact that my mother was always her own woman, but that's just kind of how I look at it now. And that's _so _ not me. Like I told Selena, I was born Chloe Sullivan and I'm gonna die Chloe Sullivan. I don't see why people think names need to be changed. Your marriage vows are what tie you to that other person. Your love is what ties you to that other person. You don't have to change your last name to be devoted and in love... Wow, that turned into a rant," Chloe said after a minute.

"I knew it would," Oliver said with a smirk. "That's why I asked. You're adorable when you're all worked up and ranting."

Chloe raised an eyebrow and tried not to smile. "You know Jimmy asked me one day if I was going to change my name?"

"And what did you say?" Oliver asked with a smirk.

"I told him that I'd become Chloe Olsen as soon as he became Jimmy Sullivan," Chloe laughed and so did Oliver. "And then he's like what about Chloe Sullivan-Olsen and I told him that wouldn't be happening either, though I don't think there's anything wrong with a woman who wants to do that- it's just not me... Anyway, I'm getting a headache. And not that I'm not glad to see you, cuz I am, but what are you doing back? I thought you weren't getting in til the morning"

"Apparently I overestimate how long everything will take. Again, everything was finished up earlier than I thought, so naturally I came to find you," he said.

"Well, I was just about to go plop down on the couch and start to put some pictures from my massive box-full into some of the hundred million photo albums you bought me. I don't want the pictures just lying loose in that box anymore," Chloe told him.

"You were gonna put them in the albums without me. Not fair. You said you'd do it with me. There's gotta be some embarrassing pictures in there somewhere and I want to see," Oliver pouted, teasing her.

"You sound like you're six," Chloe laughed. "I know I said you could help me. I wasn't going back on my word. It's not like I was gonna get through the whole box tonight. There would have been plenty more occasions to do this on, but since you're here now, why don't you help me. Please oh please, would be ever so kind?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, of course I will help you," Oliver grinned.

"Well you can start helping me by bringing the box over here," she laughed. "Come on, hop to it Hero Boy, lets put you to work."

"You just want to look at my butt. You can admit it, it's okay, Sidekick," Oliver smirked.

"While I fully admit that I like looking at your butt cuz it's a nice butt, I really am just lazy right now," Chloe laughed.

"Seriously Chloe, how many pictures do you have?" Oliver asked her, as he brought the box and a couple of photo albums over to the couch.

"I honestly don't even know. I think it could be in the thousands," She chuckled. "Okay Queen, understand this because this is my photo album rule-"

"I already know. Kiddy pictures together, high school together. We're sticking with the theme of time. We'll keep it chronological, Sidekick. No worries. Your photo treasury is safe with me. I promise," Oliver said dramatically, and Chloe couldn't help but laugh.

An hour passed by before Chloe or Oliver knew it. "I think that's probably enough for tonight," Chloe said. "You look exhausted. You must be tired and let's be honest, I'm approaching sleepy too," Chloe said, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Yeah, I am getting tired," Oliver admitted, now also yawning. "Think I've been awake too long," he said. "My head's starting to pound."

Chloe grabbed the pillow that was lying beside her on the couch and put it in her lap. "Come here," she said to Oliver.

He looked a bit confused.

"Put your head in my lap. Come on," she said. "I'll stop the pounding before it turns into a bigger headache."

"And how are you going to do that?" Oliver asked her.

"Come here and find out," Chloe said. "Lois swears that I work better than Advil does most of the time." She patted the pillow in her lap one more time.

Oliver obeyed and Chloe's hands started to work some magic. This was definitely better than Advil. The pain was vanishing and he felt his eyes closing, getting heavier.

"Ollie," Chloe said, a little hesitantly, a little bit awkwardly.

"Yeah?"

"You busy tomorrow?"

"I don't have to go into the office or anything, so not, not really," he said.

"Could you take me to see my mom? The pictures just really kind of made me miss her," Chloe said quietly.

"I'll take you wherever you want to go," he said.

"Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome," he said.

After a couple more minutes Chloe stopped. "Feel better?" she asked.

He didn't answer. Chloe looked down at him and saw that he'd fallen asleep in her lap. She just smiled and laughed quietly. He looked really peaceful right now. Peaceful and beautiful.

Chloe ran her fingers through his hair absentmindedly before finally falling asleep herself.


	14. Chapter 14

o-0-o-0-o Thanks for favouriting and alerting and thanks to GoChlollie, Daniella, Raya, Naleylover23xo and redqueen11 for reviewing. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

Oliver opened his eyes and looked up. He had fallen asleep in Chloe's lap. She'd fallen asleep too but she looked like she wasn't all that comfortable, and who could blame her, she was practically sleeping sitting up. Oliver felt guilty. He got up quietly and picked Chloe up, wanting to move her to a bed. Chloe's eyes flew open.

"It's just me Sidekick," Oliver whispered. "Close your eyes. Go back to sleep. I'm just moving you somewhere more comfy."

"You're carrying me," Chloe laughed, half-asleep. "But I'm too tired to tell you to put me down, and this is actually kinda comfy... Okay goodnight," Chloe said as her eyes closed again, and Oliver laughed.

Oliver gently kicked the door open and put Chloe down.

"Where do you think you're going?" Chloe asked, eyes opening and closing in tiredness. "Come lie down with me. It's still sleep time," Chloe said, patting the bed. "Don't think about it, don't read into it. Don't comment. Don't talk. Just get in here. I sleep a lot better when you're with me."

Oliver didn't know what to say, so it was good that she didn't want him to talk. He wondered if she was fully awake. Maybe she was dreaming and talking. That wasn't typically something Chloe would admit out loud. Whatever it was, Chloe saying that stirred something inside of him and he couldn't help but smile a bit.

''Alright," he said.

"Good," she answered

As soon as he got in the bed Chloe's eyes closed again.

"Professor," Oliver said quietly.

No answer. Chloe had fallen back asleep. She'd knocked out again within seconds. Oliver pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a message to his pilot telling him that he would need him in the afternoon. He was going to fly Chloe to her mother.

Chloe moved closer to him in her sleep. Oliver just looked down at her and stared for a few minutes. It wasn't just him in this anymore. Chloe was in too, but she was fighting it. She fought it when he said anything that would indicate real feelings, she fought it when she thought that she'd just given him too much. She tried not to fight, but that was her natural response to things for the past year now. Oliver knew this.

It was times like this that he wished he could tell her how bad he'd fallen for her, but he couldn't. Because talking about it freaked her out. When she freaked out, she'd fight. They'd fight and she would probably leave; even if it only lasted awhile- and he didn't want to fight with her. All he really wanted was to be allowed to love her. But he'd wait for her. He'd keep his mouth shut until whenever it was that Chloe was ready to acknowledge out loud that they were more than what she'd been classifying them as. He'd wait for her because he knew that even though she couldn't tell him, that she felt something big for him too. He'd wait for her because it was what she needed. He leaned into her and kissed her forehead before closing his eyes and drifting back off to sleep.

It was another four hours before Chloe woke up and when she did, Oliver wasn't beside her. She got out of the bed and walked over to the kitchen area of Watchtower, and here she found Oliver.

"Hey you," she said.

"Good morning," he said. "Here, drink some coffee," he told her, passing a cup to her.

"You _so _ rock," Chloe said, gladly accepting the coffee.

"Alright Sidekick. Would you rather go this afternoon or wait til tonight to head off and see your mom? I figured you'd prefer afternoon so I told the pilot that, but if you prefer later I'll tell him we'll go later."

"Afternoon is good. Thank you," she told him. "I wasn't really sure if you'd remember," she chuckled. "You were half asleep."

"Nope, I remember. And to give credit where credit is due, Lois was absolutely right, you are better for headaches than Advil. No doubt about it," Oliver said.

Chloe laughed as she sipped her coffee. "Are you sure you're free today?" Chloe asked him. "Cuz if your not, I'm good to go myself. The pilot can just drop me off."

"I'm completely free. No worries," Oliver said.

"I don't know how long I'm gonna be. Are you sure you're up for it?" Chloe asked.

"_Yes_ Chloe," Oliver laughed.

"Okay, cool," Chloe said. "Just making sure... Does noon sound good for you?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"Good. I've got some stuff I want to show you, but let's eat something first," Chloe said, walking over to the fridge and looking inside. It was close to empty. She opened the freezer and grabbed the 2 boxes of frozen waffles. "Wow, I seriously need to do some shopping. I've really let this fridge get down to the bare minimum...Alright Arrow. You've got a choice of chocolate chip or cinnamon waffles. What's it gonna be? Oh and just a warning, they may be freezer-burned," Chloe said.

"Do you just want to go out for breakfast?" Oliver asked her, laughing. "Or we can just go buy some food to re-stock this place. Or are you still too chicken to go anywhere around this city with me?" he asked with a grin.

"Oh shut up you," Chloe smirked. "I've come out with you before."

"Yeah, in the dark," Oliver teased. "And even then, you were still a little edgy," he continued to laugh.

"You enjoy these conversations far too much," she grinned. "You enjoy teasing me about this way too much... I'm a private person Ollie, and you- well your face is pretty recognizable to news-seekers around these parts. And why should it be anyone's business as to what we're doing? ... But I concede. Let's go shopping. We can do it your way today. And then I don't wanna hear another 'too chicken to be seen with me- doesn't want to go anywhere with me' comment again," Chloe chuckled.

"Alright," Oliver grinned. "How about we get out of here right now?"

"Okey dokey. Just give me a couple minutes," Chloe said.

o-o-o-o

"We should get another fridge and freezer Chlo," Oliver said. "Seriously, the one really isn't enough. We should keep Watchtower stocked up, especially for when Bart comes around."

"I was thinking the same thing last week, but then I obviously forgot about it," Chloe said.

Chloe and Oliver were both pushing carts that were filled to the top.

"It's handy as hell for us right now but I'm sorry, it's weird to have a store that you can buy your groceries and the appliances to put those groceries in together," Chloe said.

"I agree on both counts," Oliver laughed. "Okay, how about we go pay for this stuff, throw it in the car and then come back in to look at a fridge and freezer."

"Yeah, let's do that," Chloe said as they got into line.

Chloe tried to stifle a laugh.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"Those two women over there at the next cash can't stop staring at you," she said, nudging him.

Oliver just shook his head and laughed.

"Wow, I just realized something. This is probably your first actual big shopping trip at a grocery store, isn't it?" Chloe teased, giving him a grin.

"I've been in a grocery store before, smart-ass" Oliver defended, amused. "But not actually to do a whole big shopping trip, I'll admit."

The line moved along, and Chloe and Oliver started to put the groceries onto the belt. When the cashier looked up and at them she also stared for a second, but then remembered she was at work and started to scan the groceries. "Hi," she said shyly.

"Hi," they both said back.

Chloe thought this girl was cute. She couldn't have been more than eighteen. It was clear she had a little crush on Oliver.

"You've got another admirer," Chloe said, standing on tip toe, whispering to Oliver with a laugh.

Chloe thought she might cry- from laughter, at any minute. The two women in the next line were still staring at Oliver, and then another woman in line told them "Stop embarrassing yourselves. He's clearly taken."

Then the two women turned around and told the woman to shut up. The woman responded with a "Screw you" to which the two women responded "Bitch!"

And before Chloe knew it, slapping was happening and hair was being pulled.

"Oh for God's sake," said the cashier who was scanning Chloe and Oliver's groceries. The girl got on the intercom. "Can I get security to the front of the store please? Security to the front."

The women were still going at it and people were yelling at them to stop, but that was pointless. They weren't listening and security was taking its sweet time.

"Should I try to break it up?" Oliver asked Chloe.

"Nope. You stay away. I guarantee if you get involved it'll all come back on you," she told him, amused by the catfight going on.

"All of this because you're hot," the cashier said and then she blushed and didn't look up again, she just kept on scanning.

Chloe grinned. The cashier probably hadn't meant to say that out loud.

As funny as the catfight was, Chloe noticed that there were some little kids in the store, and that's when she decided that it was time someone broke up the girlfight. People were yelling from a distance but no one was actually _doing _anything or getting close enough to do anything.

Chloe walked up to the women, getting as close as she could get without actually getting in the middle of them."Ladies," she yelled. "There are kids around. Break it up. You look like idiots."

The women still weren't listening. Chloe was about to try to get in the middle of them, and Oliver could see that. He walked over quickly and pulled Chloe away with a laugh. "Easy tiger. No need to get in the ring. Security's finally here."

"About freakin' time," Chloe said, turning her attention back to the cashier scanning the groceries. It was another few minutes before their order was finished.

"Okay, so that comes to $614.67."

Oliver paid, and then they got out of the store.

"Ollie. We're not going back in there. Let's just go run by that appliance place near the theatre and pick out the first fridge and freezer we find so we can get back to Watchtower."

"Sounds like a plan," Oliver said, putting the last of the groceries into the backseat because they'd run out of room in the truck.

Chloe pulled out her phone and dialled Clark as they got into the truck.

"Hey Chlo."

"Hey you. I need to call in a favour. We're picking up a new fridge and freezer for the Clubhouse but I don't really want it delivered there, you know? Anyway would you mind if I gave them your address for delivery and then because you're my best bud- bring it over tonight."

"Yeah, no prob Chloe."

"Thanks Clark. I'll see you later," Chloe said hanging up. "Alright Ollie, let's hurry this up, I'm getting really hungry here and I still wanna show you some stuff and then we've gotta go."

"Relax Sidekick. We're fine for time."

"Ollie, do me a favour, okay?"

"Sure, what?"

"Don't cause another fight," Chloe teased.

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything, Professor," he said with a laugh.

"Maybe we'll just put a bag over your head," Chloe grinned.

o-o-o-o

"Oh come on Chloe, let's get the green ones," Oliver laughed.

Chloe couldn't help but laugh. "Ollie, I know you love the green and I know _I_ love the green on _you_, but a fridge and freezer? You really want to buy a green fridge and freezer to go next to the white ones we already have at the clubhouse?"

"Yes I do," Oliver said trying to put on a serious face.

"Well, who am I to say no? You're the one paying for the stuff after all," Chloe said, holding her hands up in defeat.

"Woohoo!"

"Alright hot-boy, let's get this over and done with. I need food and I want to show you what I found."

o-o-o-o

Back at Watchtower, Chloe and Oliver were strategically manoeuvring the groceries into the fridge and freezer they already had, and it was quite the chore.

"I'm serious Ollie, go get some rope. We bought way too much for just this one fridge. The door of the fridge is not going to stay closed on it's own, and we don't want everything to go bad," Chloe said as she took a bite out of her bagel.

Oliver laughed as he went to find some rope. "This is pathetic," He chuckled as he and Chloe tied the fridge door shut.

"Yeah, I agree," Chloe said. "Okay now, come here and take a look at this," she said, walking over to the computers and picking up the sheet from before.

"Do you know what this is?" Chloe asked him, not waiting for an answer. "You can't tell now, but that's where the place you guys rescued Bart from was."

"That was your first time as Watchtower," Oliver said reflectively.

"Yep," Chloe said. "Anyway, I've been monitoring that area for awhile now, both above and underground and I noticed a little change."

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.

"Well, nothing was going on there forever, but recently I've been picking up some stuff and it looks like there's some human activity going on. It could very well be nothing important. It could be city workers or something but I've been noticing the movement mostly at night... Personally I think it would be sadly hilarious if someone was conducting some shady business there because we've already been in there before and we could shut it down so easily again. And I've been noticing some more movement in another former 33.1 hiding area, but then again it could all be nothing. I dunno, what do you think?" Chloe asked him.

"You're smart for still checking on these sites, Sidekick," Oliver complimented. "I don't know. Like you say, it could be nothing, but it could be something. I think me and a couple of the guys will go check it out when we've got a tiny bit of extra time."

"Good stuff. Sounds like a plan," Chloe said.

"Alright you, let's finish up in here and do whatever we need to and then get out of here so we can get to your mom."

"Ollie," Chloe said seriously.

"Yeah Chlo?"

"I don't think I've ever thanked you for what you've done for my mom- you know finding a safe and secure place for her to be taken care of. You didn't have to do that but you did, and I want you to know that I'm very grateful."

"You're welcome. It's not a problem at all. You know I was happy to help you out. It was nice to be able to do something nice."

"Thank you for that and every other nice thing you've done," she said again, standing on tip-toe to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Oliver gave her a grin.

"Alright. Let's get out of here," Chloe said, rolling her eyes, smiling back.

o-o-o-o

Chloe and Oliver drove into the parking lot. Chloe had decided she didn't want to actually show up at the centre coming out of a jet, so they had been dropped off and picked up a rental car. As Chloe and Oliver arrived at the centre where Chloe's mom was, Chloe stopped in her tracks for a minute and took a deep breath. "I'm a _shitty _daughter," she said, ashamed of herself.

"No you're not," Oliver said.

"Yes I am," she answered. "She's my _mother. _I've been here one other time since you brought her here. I should have come more often."

"It's not easy to see someone you love in the condition your mom is in... Take another breath, brush it all off. You're here now, you're gonna see her now. That's what matters, okay?"

Oliver said and Chloe nodded her head as she and Oliver made their way through the centre's doors.

They were greeted with a "Welcome to Baybreeze," by the woman at the desk and then, "Mr. Queen, nice to see you again."

Chloe didn't recognize this woman. She must have started working there after Chloe had last visited.

"Sorry Miss, I don't believe I've seen you before, or else I'm sure I'd remember your name," the woman said.

She was a very cheery sort. She was nice.

"Chloe Sullivan," Chloe told the woman.

"Would you be related to Moira Sullivan?" the woman asked.

"She's my mom."

"I think I can see the resemblance," the woman said. "Well, anyway. It'll be nice for her to have you there. I personally think she can sense when she's got visitors. I'm sure the visits of Mr. Kent and Mr. Queen here are definitely nice but I'm sure one from you would be extra special."

"Mr. Kent, as in Clark Kent and Oliver here?" Chloe asked.

"Yes."

Chloe nodded her head with a small sad smile. "How many times have the beautiful boys come to visit?" Chloe asked.

"I usually see their lovely faces once a month," the woman said throwing a smile Oliver's way.

Chloe plastered a smile onto her face. "I'll be right back. I just need a couple minutes," she said quickly before walking out the door and heading to the back of the building.

Chloe leaned against the wall and let herself cry. She was crying out of anger and sadness and shame and gratitude. She was angry at herself for not coming here more. She was ashamed that she didn't visit her mother but Clark and Oliver did. She was sad because she loved her mother but never felt like visiting her would do anyone any good. She wouldn't know she was there and Chloe wouldn't be able to see _her_. She was grateful that Clark and Oliver came to visit her mother. She was glad people were checking up on her even when Chloe didn't have the strength to do it.

The fact that Clark had been coming here all along, even during their rough patch meant the world to Chloe and the fact that Oliver, who didn't know her mother at all came to visit her was truly touching and proof of what an amazing guy he was. And he'd probably be out here any second, checking if she was okay, so she wiped her eyes quickly and headed back.

Sure enough, there he was, coming to see her.

"Wrong way, Queen," Chloe teased, trying to tell him she was okay without actually saying it.

"Silly me," he said, following her lead.

When they went back in, one of the doctors showed Chloe to her mom's room.

"Take as long as you want in there. Don't worry about me waiting, okay? Seriously," Oliver said.

"Okay," Chloe said, nodding.

"Oh wow, okay. I know this was not part of the plan, but do you mind if I come in with you? I will not bother you, I swear. I'll stay in a corner, you won't know I'm there," Oliver said suddenly.

"Uh, o-kay," Chloe said slowly.

"You see that guy at the desk? I can't stand him. He's annoying and sometimes stupid and does not shut up and he gives me a headache. I don't want him to see me. I'm not in the mood to deal with him, okay?"

Chloe nodded.

"The room's big, seriously, you won't know I'm there," Oliver promised.

Chloe walked into the room and took it all in. It was very nice. It was huge but it was cozy and bright and comfortable. She tried to forget that Ollie was in the room. She thought that if her mom was aware of her surroundings, she would like it. There was something warm and welcoming about it and there were new flowers on the table. Her mom was sitting in a chair faced toward the beautiful day outside.

Chloe walked over to her mother and kissed her cheek. "Hi mom," she said quietly.

Chloe pulled up a chair and sat across from her mother. She sat in silence for several minutes, just thinking about times she had spent with her mom when she was younger. She got caught up in memories and she somehow actually did manage to forget that Ollie was there too.

"I'm sorry I haven't come by to see you. I don't really have an excuse except for the fact that I hate not actually being able to talk to you, to see you awake and happy- and because I feel guilty when I do see you... I spent years being mad at you because I thought you abandoned me. I spent years being angry when I should have been grateful that you wanted to protect me... I've got to tell you now, though, mom- I haven't led a safe life. Me and trouble always find each other. You wanted to protect me from you and knowing that makes me appreciate what you did. But I would have lived with whatever risk you thought you posed to me, though. I would have gladly lived with it if it meant you not leaving me.

"If I ever find a way to wake you out of this state, I'm going to do it because I miss you so much. We didn't even really get to talk when Lex woke you up and was using you. I've spent more of my life without you than with you, and there's been days where all I think about is you... I don't want you to feel bad because you have nothing to feel bad about. Daddy took good care of me- made sure I was loved. He did his best, but sometimes the poor guy was completely lost with what to do with a growing girl on his hands, but I also had Lo. Lois was always looking out for me. She's been _so much _to me family-wise. She's been more than my cousin. She's been my friend, my sister, and though there's only a couple years age difference between us, in those first few years after you were gone especially, she was kinda like a mom to me even though she was still a kid herself... I don't always show it, but I love her very much, and there isn't too often a day that goes by where I don't thank God for getting to have her in my life.

"I don't really know what I'm supposed to say to you. I always thought you had no idea what was going on, but that lady at the desk thinks you're aware. If you are aware, I hope you took all of that in. I hope you know I love you and I want you to know that though I was missing you, Dad and Lo did a good job... There's this part of me that wants to tell you everything, you know, knowing that maybe you can hear me, but then there's this other part that says I shouldn't because- well, there's some stuff that's not so great.

"I'm thinking, though, if I ever had a kid- I'm sure I'd want to know it all, bad and good... Where should I start, mom? Smallville, I guess. I think that's really where my life started and started to change... Smallville, meteor-freak capital of the world. Smallville, the land of Chloe and Clark and Pete and then Lana. Clark and Pete were my best friends. You would have been proud of me if you could see me, I think. I didn't drop the journalism stuff after I stopped being a kid. Stories about the Lock Ness monster changed a bit, but things got weirder actually," Chloe continued on about high school for a few minutes before thinking about the Luthors.

"You know I've gotten into it with the Luthors. I think I would have given you a heart attack if you knew everything... I interned at the Daily Planet. I worked at the Daily Planet too, and then that bastard Lex fired me," Chloe said with a laugh. "But looking back now, that might have been one of the best things to happen to me. I've still got the reporter in me, that's never gonna go away- it's hardwired in me, but getting fired eventually led me to where I honestly believe that I belong... If you could talk to me right now you'd probably tell me to get on to the love stuff. _That_ is quite something. It's complicated and messy and you'd probably not be too proud of me. If this was a few months ago I don't even know if I could say this... I got married to a really sweet guy, but I don't know how in love with him I was...You want to hear something bad? I pretty much also had someone else in my heart most of the time while I was with Jimmy- it wasn't the same guy the whole time though, but generally he had to share my heart... Jimmy never had all of me and he deserved so much better from me. I loved him, I really did, but it wasn't the way he deserved...The marriage didn't last long and not all that long after, Jimmy died... This is depressing," Chloe said with a sad laugh.

"Things are better now, though. I think I'm doing better. I'm feeling happier than I have in a long time which in itself is a little scary and there's someone-" Chloe stopped mid-sentence.

Chloe didn't know what it was that made her turn to look around, but she did turn around and she saw Oliver sitting in the far corner of the room reading a magazine.

_Holy shit! How did I forget he was here? I wonder if he heard me. I wonder if he's actually reading that magazine. Wow, I'm an idiot. How did I forget he was here?_

Chloe felt awkward now to keep talking, so she just sat silently with her mom for a little while more before getting up. She kissed her mom again and said. "I'm gonna try to come see you more, okay? Love you."

Chloe walked over to Oliver. "We're good to go," she said.

Apparently he didn't hear her, which was actually a good sign that he probably didn't hear her talking before. She put her hand on his arm. "Ollie," she said. "We're good to go."

He looked up. "Hey," he said. "Okay, cool."

"Let's get outta here," Chloe said. "I just wanna stop at the desk for a second, though."

"Sure," Oliver said.

Oliver felt bad, though it wasn't his fault that he had heard her. He had come to know Chloe so well that he knew that if she knew he had heard her she would have freaked out. To prevent a freak out and her doing her pulling away from him thing, he pretended to be absorbed in the magazine and hope she would think he'd heard nothing. Apparently it worked.

Chloe stopped and was talking to the woman at the desk, a different one than from before. At least that's what it sounded like. Chloe couldn't really see anything. The woman seemed to be looking for something and pretty much had her head in a cabinet. "If you don't mind having a conversation without actually looking at me, you can start talking, I'll be able to hear you," the woman laughed as she continued to look for what ever she was searching for.

"The flowers in her room are beautiful so don't take this the wrong way, and I know it probably sounds stupid to you, but is there any way I could convince you guys to maybe change up your flower buying patterns a little bit, at least in my mom's case? I'll totally pay you guys for it," Chloe said.

The woman at the desk chuckled. "I keep telling them to change the flowers up a bit- we need some more variety, but they don't listen to me. They listen to money though, so I'll get you the little form I gave to three other people this week who weren't the biggest fan of the flowers either. There should be a few in front of you," the woman said, still rummaging. "You write out your name and payment method and who the flowers are for and what kind you want them to get and we're good to go."

"Just add it onto the regular bill," Oliver told the lady at the desk.

"Or we can do that," the woman said. "I'll be up in a minute. What's the patient's name?"

"Moira Sullivan."

"Ollie, I got this. I think you're doing more than enough for my mom already," Chloe said.

"We're doing things my way today, remember?" he teased, closing the subject. "So what are her favourites?"

"The same as mine," Chloe said.

"Alright so tulips it is," Oliver said.

"You remember," Chloe said, impressed.

"My boyfriend could take a lesson from you. He can't remember a damn thing," the woman said, finally popping her head up.

There was an awkward silence for a moment and Oliver wondered what had just happened. Had he missed something.

Seeing the face behind the voice, Chloe spoke first, "Janelle...Hi."

"Chloe Sullivan...Wow, I haven't seen you in years. How many years has it been now?"

"Haven't seen you since Graduation, so it's been about five years," Chloe said, pulling out a water bottle from her purse and taking a sip, wanting to get this all over with and get out of here. Chloe had never liked this woman.

It was pretty clear to Oliver that these two weren't great friends and were just trying to be civil.

"Good old graduation, huh?" Janelle said. "Remember when you made a move on my boyfriend and then humiliated him, just before the ceremony?"

"That's still how you're choosing to remember it, really?" Chloe said, sounding annoyed. "I wouldn't have touched your boyfriend with a ten-foot pole. I don't know why you can't just admit that he was drunk out of his mind and was being a dirty little perv," Chloe said.

"He was not."

"You don't call him grabbing my ass and making a grab for my boobs being a dirty little perv? And as to humiliating him, he deserved that kick in the nuts. He should just be grateful that Clark was in the other room at the time" Chloe answered back sarcastically.

"Well, uh-"

"Just forget about it Janelle. Try a little professionalism. You are supposed to be at work right now. Can we finish this stuff up please? We've got a busy day," Chloe said tightly.

It wasn't until Chloe said "we" that Janelle remembered there was a man with her, so she turned to see what this guy looked like... Oliver Queen! Chloe Sullivan was with Oliver Queen! Wow!

"Chloe, you did _good_, girl," Janelle said nodding towards Oliver, seemingly forgetting that she'd been pissed off with Chloe a moment earlier.

Chloe choked a little bit on the sip of water she was drinking. Oliver tried not to laugh.

"I should have gotten into your little group. You and Lana both landed billionaires, I've gotta say though, yours is definitely better looking, and well Lana and that Luthor guy didn't last..."

"Wow," Chloe laughed, Janelle was quite something. "Yeah, he's kinda hot, right?" Chloe said grinning at Oliver in spite of everything. "Okay Janelle, let's get this stuff done, please."

"Oh yeah, right," the woman said, seemingly, finally getting back into work mode.

She got onto the computer and did some clicking and typing and about a minute later said. "Okay, that's all done."

"Good," Chloe said. "I guess I'll see you next time."

"Probably not, I'm only filling in here for another couple weeks."

"Well, uh, take care then," Chloe said awkwardly.

"Janelle, right?" Oliver said.

The woman nodded.

"Check out the note on file," Oliver said, as he headed out the door with Chloe.

"What's the note on file?" Chloe asked.

"It basically reminds them how much money I give this place and to keep their mouths shut about stuff having to do with me or your mom," Oliver said.

"Trust me, that woman _needs_ a reminder like that," Chloe said.

"Not exactly her biggest fan, huh?" Oliver asked.

"Snotty little bitch she was in high-school, not all that much better now," Chloe told him.

"We've had an interesting day, huh?" Oliver said with a laugh.

"To say the least," Chloe replied with a grin as the got to the car.

"So you think I'm hot huh?" Oliver smirked.

"Duh," Chloe chuckled. "And more seriously though- I think you're amazing, and awesome and wonderful, and sweet. And _thank you._"

Part of Oliver wanted to do a little happy dance. This had been a good day.

Oliver gave her a smile that made Chloe's heart do a little dance. Chloe bit her lip and then pulled him down to her for a kiss.

"Thank _you_," Oliver said with a smirk after they finally broke away from each other.

"My pleasure," Chloe said with a happy laugh.


	15. Chapter 15

o-0-o-0-o Here's the new chapter. Thanks for alerting and favouriting. Thanks a bunch to GoChlollie, redqueen11, Naleylover23xo, morning1, and whatweareafraidof for reviewing. Hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you thinko-0-o-0-o

"Oliver Queen was spotted across the state today looking quite cozy with a mystery blonde. Is the billionaire bachelor playboy finally off the market? Has our favourite business hunk finally settled down? See for yourselves. Here's a glimpse of the lady whose lips were locked with our favourite billionaire's. We'll be back with more in just a minute."

A back shot of Chloe, thankfully not one where her face could be seen, flashed on the screen.

"Tower, that kinda looks like you. She's got the same jacket and everything," A.C. said, trying to sound serious, trying not to grin.

Oliver did a double-take and Chloe dropped her cup of coffee.

_Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Yeah, I went out with him, but I honestly didn't_ _think we'd be followed, it was still early. Oh my god... I am _not _ ready for this. No. No. No. No_

It was cruel, he knew, but he just had to tease them a bit. "So who's this blonde you've been making out with, boss? And Chloe, what's wrong, what's got you all jumpy? You just dropped your coffee. You _never_ drop coffee," A.C. said, trying to hold in his grin.

"_Please_ shut up," Chloe said.

"Real nice Fish-Face, how about helping her clean it up rather than asking about it?" Bart said, speeding across the room to grab some paper towel and help Chloe wipe it up.

Chloe shot Bart a small smile in spite of the sick feeling in her stomach. She needed to get out of here now. The whole team was here, even Clark, Jonn and Emil- and Chloe was in no mood for this. She wouldn't be able to handle it.

"I've gotta go, I'm meeting Lois and it's a dead night so Watchtower is going offline early. You lock up and reset the alarm or I will have your necks... Clark, can I borrow you for a minute. Can you spare a minute to speed a girl out of here, _please_?"

"Absolutely," he answered.

It was a matter of seconds before Chloe and Clark were back in the Talon apartment.

"Thank you _so _ much," Chloe said.

"No problem," Clark said, giving her a small smile. "Before that whole gossip show tabloid crap popped on the screen, were you happy? Did you two have a good day?"

"We really did," Chloe admitted. "It was fun. It felt nice," Chloe told him. "And then this. Ugggh."

"Unfortunately for you two and privacy, he's a well-known face," Clark said. "If you don't mind me asking, best friend curiosity here, though if it involves anything to do with not having clothing on, I don't want to hear it- where did you go? The woman said state and not city."

"You just reminded me, big guy, I owe you a thank you and a hug," Chloe said, giving Clark a hug which he returned.

"Don't get me wrong, because Chloe Sullivan's hugs are pretty high on my list of the best things in life, but did I miss something?" Clark said with a small laugh.

"Well, besides the crazy shopping we did for Watchtower, including the fridge and freezer that you totally rock for, for bringing over by the way, Ollie took me to see my mom. I hadn't been there in forever-"

"I'm really glad you went to see her," Clark said. "I think you actually needed to do it for yourself. I know you think about her a lot even though you try not to mention her too often. I know what that whole situation does to you- but it felt good, didn't it, to go see her?"

"It did," Chloe said with a nod. "My owed thank you to you- you've been visiting my mom since she's been there and that's something you didn't have to do, and I can't say thank you enough for it because you did so much better than me."

"You're welcome, but really it wasn't some chore. I've always known that it would be hard for you to go to that place and see her like that, so I did it for you. I made sure things were good and Oliver checked on her too, and in that short time I had seen your mom, I liked her. She was a nice lady, so really there's no need to say thank you, visiting her wasn't hard work. In fact, it was quite nice... Even when you and me weren't doing so great, when I saw your mom, I felt close to you again, felt like we'd be okay again eventually."

Chloe gave him a smile and before she could say anything she heard Bart's voice at the door. She headed to the door and opened it up.

"Hey," he said. "You dropped this as you left," he said as he handed her phone to her. Bart laughed a bit. "Oh hey, Clark. Were you planning on heading back? It might be a good idea if you do. Jonn's now grilling the tall blonde one, it's not bad or anything, he's being pretty nice but maybe you could get him to lay off Bossman a bit."

"Yeah, sure," Clark said. "Chloe, listen, even if they did show you, it's not going to be the end of the world, okay?" Clark said, trying to keep her calm.

Chloe nodded. "I don't believe that at all, but thanks again."

And then Clark was gone.

"So the cousin story- a bunch of bull, huh?" Bart said with a sympathetic laugh.

"Not entirely, but partially, yeah," Chloe admitted. "We're supposed to have a girl's night, but I'm not exactly sure when she's getting home... Okay, tell me speedy man, tell me what they showed and the reactions of the gang back at Watchtower," Chloe said, closing the door.

"Okay, I'm not gonna lie- _everyone _at Watchtower knew it was you, _but _ on tv they didn't actually get a shot of your face. They got shots of you and Bossman making-out, which by the way, just so you know- you're breaking my heart," Bart said.

Chloe managed a grin.

"But it's from the back so you couldn't really see your face. So if the team hadn't figured it out already, the next few shots kinda sealed it all. There was Oliver and the mystery blonde walking with heaping cartfuls of groceries. And then there was Oliver and the mystery blonde in the appliance store checking out green fridges and freezers, identical to the new ones we've got in Watchtower."

"Oh _God_," Chloe whimpered.

"Come on beautiful, let's put this into perspective here for you. There were only four people in that room who didn't actually know about you and Oliver, and two of those four knew something was going on but couldn't confirm it for sure. And the other two have actually said before that you two were well suited for each other, and had been wondering if something might be happening with the two of you," Bart told her.

"Seriously?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, let's just say you two are usually good at being normal but sometimes you guys are so obvious," Bart laughed. "So when you look at it like that, basically everyone just confirmed their suspicions, and to the rest of the world, who you are is still a mystery."

"Can I ask you something, Bart? And you've gotta tell me the truth," Chloe said.

"Okay," Bart answered.

"You were the first one who found out about me and Ollie so you've had the longest to develop a real opinion. When you found out, and now too, did you start to see me and Oliver differently than you had before? Do you still have respect for us? For me? Or is all of this just a big pile of wrong?"

"Chloe, are you seriously worried about these things?" Bart asked her. "Have you really been thinking about this stuff?"

"Sometimes," she nodded.

"I don't see you any differently, either of you. And as much as your thing with Oliver has killed a part of me because _clearly_, you should be with _me_," he said with a grin, "it's not anyone's business to judge you. And what is there to see differently, you're still the same. You fall for who you fall for, and you guys aren't hurting anyone- well, except_ me_," Bart said, trying his best to look innocent, which just made Chloe laugh. "And on a serious note," he said. "As to respect, I want to make something very clear, I have always and will always have respect for you. Nothing's gonna change that."

Chloe motioned Bart over to her with her finger and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You wanna know something Bart?" Chloe asked.

"Sure," he said.

"Becoming friends with you has honestly been one of the best things in my life," she told the speedster. "I really mean that."

Bart was quiet for a minute before saying. "That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me, and ditto to that by the way."

Chloe gave him a smile. "I should probably send you back there to make sure everything's in order," Chloe laughed.

"None of the team's gonna care about this you know? No one's gonna be mad or anything. You don't have to be ashamed or worried or whatever. Yeah, they'll bug you two a bit, joke around a bit, but it'll all be in good fun."

"Bart, I'm a weirdo, that's all there really is. I'm just not comfortable with all of this stuff."

"Alright then. I'll get out of here. Don't think about this stuff. Just chill and have a good night," Bart told her.

"Thanks," she said as he sped away.

"I should have just listened to myself. There's a reason I don't go places with him unless it's in the friggin middle of nowhere- so no one sees us!" Chloe muttered.

"Chlo, you're butt looks nice on camera," Lois said, walking through the door with a smirk

"Is there anyone I know who _doesn't _know that that was me?" Chloe whimpered.

Lois laughed a bit and then held out her arms. "I think someone needs a hug from her favourite cousin," Lois said.

Chloe walked into Lois's arms. "Why the hell does everyone have to know his face? Why can't I just make out with him in peace?" Chloe pouted.

Lois laughed and dragged Chloe to the couch. "Dig in cuz," Lois said, pointing to the bag she'd just placed on the couch.

"Ooooh, you got Thai food. You are the greatest of great women Lo," Chloe said.

"I knew you'd be in a mood, so I figured food would make you happy," Lois grinned. "Okay baby cuz, I've been good about you and Oliver, but it's time for you to freakin' spill the beans and don't you dare give me that bullshit about "no strings" and blah blah... I need a spill-session. You've been beyond cruel, you know that."

"Lo, I don't even know what there is to say. All I know is that, yes, I feel something for him and yes, it's a big kind of something," Chloe admitted with a sigh. "Please Lo, I know this is a sucky spill-session, but honestly I just don't know anything right now. I'm trying to figure out exactly what I'm doing. So I can't really tell you anything when I don't even know what's going on," Chloe laughed pathetically. "So let's just stuff our faces and surf through the movie channels and find some hot guys to drool over."

"Sounds like a plan, and we _so _have to add a game of truth or dare to that list, and no I'm not kidding."

"Okay, why the hell not," Chloe said.

"And you're not getting out of it," Lois said with a wicked grin.

Over two hours later Lois said, "You can never go wrong with Pirates of the Caribbean. Never."

"Absolutely agree," Chloe said. "You get Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. Nothing to complain about at all.

"Pirates of the Caribbean gives us eye candy, action and possibly the best line of all time," Lois chuckled. "Come on Chlo, on 3 with me. 1,2, 3."

"You like pain? Try wearing a corset!" the cousins said at the same time, laughing.

Chloe was having fun with Lois. Whenever they both actually had the time to manage these nights, fun always ensued even if they did nothing but watch movies.

"Alright honey it's time for some Truth or Dare, and since I brought the food I get to pick who goes first- and that would be you," Lois said with a grin. "Truth or dare baby cuz?"

Chloe considered carefully. If she picked truth she just knew that Lois was going to ask something about her and Oliver, so she went with dare, which might be worse. "Okay, dare."

Lois smirked. "This will be fun. Just give me a minute to figure your dare out."

Lois sat with a smile on her face for a moment, just thinking about the dare, but then her phone rang and she frowned. "Oh this is gonna be great," she mumbled.

She let the phone ring and then Chloe grabbed it from her and answered for her, not knowing if she was ever going to pick it up.

"Hello," she said.

"Chloe?" the voice on the other end said.

"Oh hey Lucy," Chloe said, now understanding the frown on Lois's face. Lucy almost always only ever called when she needed something from Lois because she'd gotten herself into some trouble.

"How are you?"

"I'm doing alright, what about you?" Chloe asked.

"I might have messed up a little bit very recently," Lucy admitted. "Would Lo be there? I kinda need her to help me out."

"Yeah, just a sec," Chloe said, passing the phone to her cousin.

"Hey Lucy. What's up babe?" Lois asked. She remained silent for a moment and listened to her sister. "Okay," she finally said. "But I'm seriously kicking your ass when I see you. Alright, bye," she said hanging up.

Lois rolled her eyes. "What the hell would happen to her without me? Seriously my sister needs to start thinking things through. I've got to go clean up one of her messes."

"Lo to the rescue," Chloe said with a smile.

"Yeah I guess," Lois said. "But you still have to do my dare," Lois said with a sudden smirk.

"Oh come on. The night is over now, so no fair," Chloe pouted.

"Oh stop pouting and start puckering your lips instead," Lois chuckled.

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

Lois just laughed. "I dare you to go see Oliver. If I know you like I _know_ I know you, you have not talked about your little exploits on the news and you definitely should. That's your dare Chlo. Now move your ass. Chop-chop," she ordered.

Chloe just shook her head and laughed. "Okay," she conceded, grabbing her own phone and heading for the door. "Good luck."

"God knows I'm gonna need it with Lucy. Okay now go get out of here and see your gorgeous non-boyfriend, or whatever it is you're calling him," Lois said with a grin.

Chloe closed the door behind her and then dialled Oliver's number. He answered quick.

"Hey," Chloe said. "You still at the Clubhouse?"

"Yeah," he told her.

"Okay, I'm on my way. I'll be there in a bit," Chloe said, hanging up before he could say anything else.

It didn't take too long for Chloe to get to Watchtower. She wasn't sure exactly what she was going to say but she felt like she owed Oliver some kind of apology for freaking out and leaving, so when she got into Watchtower she just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Listen I'm sorry for bailing before, but you know me, I freak out. I really didn't expect to end up on the news, you know and then everyone was here. And I'm a freak and this really overwhelmed me. I was not ready for all of that, but I'm sorry that I left like that. Me and Lo totally did have a Girl's Night plan, but I bullshitted and left early.

"I know it was just the team, and I love them all and I trust them and we're all friends, but the idea that they'd look at me differently freaks me out. I had it in my head that they'd lose respect for me, which now probably seems stupid because I know they're not judgemental like that... Okay so I'm gonna shut up now, I just had to say sorry- and OH MY GOD! _Everyone's _ still here," Chloe said, wishing the earth would suck her in or that she could walk through walls to get the hell out of there.

Chloe felt like she was going to faint from the shock and apparently she _looked _ like she was going to, too because before she knew it both Bart and Clark were at her side.

"You alright, gorgeous?" Bart asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chloe said, not really feeling fine for another moment. "You guys just scared the hell out of me... _ Okay,_ and now everyone needs to stop looking at me. Everyone knows _everything_ now, so there's _absolutely_ no need to talk about anything anyone may have learned tonight or just now ," Chloe said.

Everyone besides Oliver just smirked and snickered for a moment or two. The team was quite amused.

"Okay, now that that's all done," Chloe said, finding some confidence again, "what did you guys go over while I was gone?"

Jonn was the first to show mercy on Chloe by respecting her wishes and steering things back to business.

"Oliver was showing us what you had shown him earlier and we all think it's worth looking into," Jonn said.

"Probably later this week," Clark said.

"Are we getting everyone in on this, or just a few of you?" Chloe asked.

"We were thinking just a few of us at first, but it would be better if all of us went, well except one of us to keep patrol here" Oliver said.

"Well then, you're gonna have to postpone this or push it up to like tomorrow, which I don't really think is a good idea" Chloe said.

"Why?" Clark asked.

Chloe laughed. "Because, first of all, _you_ my friend, have to be in New York with Lois in two days on assignment for the Planet, which is going to keep you away for a couple days. And second, Mr. Money Bags Queen has got some kind of conference in Vegas at the same time that's gonna keep him gone for at least a day or two," Chloe reminded them.

Exclamations of, "Oh, I forgot" and "Uggh, oh joy," came from Clark and Oliver which just made Chloe laugh some more.

"I think pushing it up to tomorrow wouldn't be a good idea, but I think putting it off til these two get back wouldn't be a good idea either. I think we'll be fine without Clark and Ollie," Dinah said.

"I'm with you," Chloe agreed. "Jonn can patrol, right?" Chloe said, turning to the older man who nodded. "And you guys will be fine to go in alone and I'll be in your ears like usual. And if something does come up and we need some more back-up we can call Jonn in. And Emil, if you're not busy you can hang out with me just in case we need more than one brain if a crisis comes up."

"I'm with the girls on this," A.C. said.

"Okay," Oliver said with a shrug.

Chloe turned to Dinah, Bart, Victor and A.C. "Does Thursday sound good to you guys?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good, that was easy," Chloe said.

"It's getting late, we should probably head out," Dinah said, sending a wink in Chloe's direction.

Chloe grabbed Dinah's arm and pulled her off into the corner. "Are you totally pissed that I didn't tell you?" Chloe asked the other woman.

"I get why you didn't, I might have done the same thing if I were you, but I never would have judged you. You two together actually makes a lot of sense. And you'd never lose my respect; I hope you know that," Dinah said, with one last wink. Dinah headed out and yelled

"See you all later. Nighty night."

Emil headed out next and Jonn followed, giving Chloe a pat on the head which made her laugh a little. A.C. followed but stopped in front of Chloe. "I'm sorry about before, but I couldn't resist," he said with a grin.

"You're a jackass, you know that, right?" Chloe said, trying to be mad, trying to look upset, but A.C. was having none of that. "Say you forgive me," he told her.

"Nope," Chloe said with a grin.

"Come on Tower," he tried again.

Chloe shook her head. Then A.C. picked her up in a bear-hug. "Please?" he tried again with a laugh.

"Fine, fine," she sighed, smacking his arm. "Now get out of here. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Be gone so that I can build some love back up for you," she said, sticking out her tongue.

"You still love me, not as much as the boss over there, but you still love me," A.C, said with a smirk.

Chloe responded by taking off her shoe and whipping it at his head.

"Owww! Damn Sullivan," A.C. complained.

"Aww Curry, you're a big boy. Don't pout," she grinned.

"Catch," he said, throwing her shoe back. "Goodnight, crazy little blonde one. Bye guys."

"Nighty-night Fishy," she answered.

"I should head out too," Victor said.

"You don't have to go. None of you do," she said, also to Bart and Clark who looked ready to head out too.

"It's getting late, I've got to head back to take care of some stuff and I'd rather get it done sooner than later."

"Okay, I just don't want you to feel like I'm kicking you guys out," Chloe said.

"No worries Tower," Victor said, giving her a quick hug as he whispered teasingly in her ear before he left, "I don't know how you thought we hadn't already picked up on something between the two of you before that whole gossip thing."

"You're leaving me too. You're all hurting my feelings," Chloe said, laughing, turning to Clark and Bart who were ready to head out too.

"If I could, I'd stay wherever you were forever," Bart said dramatically.

"And ever and ever?" Chloe asked with a grin.

"And ever and ever," Bart confirmed, giving her a wink and vanishing before anyone could blink.

"Before you run away for the night- I don't know if she called you yet or not, but Lois is heading off to meet Lucy. She got herself into something And Lo's gotta bail her out. Basically don't start to freak if you don't hear from her right away, she's got Lucy on the brain right now," Chloe said to Clark

"Thanks for letting me know. No, she didn't call yet. I'll give her a bit and then I'll give her a call... You good now, Chlo?" he asked her.

She nodded.

"Good," he said. "Have a good night guys," he said and then he too was gone.

"So, I apparently have a talent for clearing a room," Chloe chuckled.

"It's a good talent to have," Oliver said, "especially when I want to be alone with you."

Chloe gave him a smile.

"So it appears as if you don't want to murder me, which I, for one, think is awesome," he started. "But if you did, I'd get it. I know you like your privacy so I know that the whole tabloid thing really freaked you out. I'm sorry."

Chloe just shrugged. "It's not your fault. And as private a person I am, I know who you are- I know you get recognized. I don't want to walk away from what we've got going on, so I'm just gonna have to try to deal with the fact that situations like today can happen."

"Very mature," Oliver complimented.

Chloe laughed. "I'm trying."

_I know you are, and that makes me happier than I can say._


	16. Chapter 16

o-0-o-0-o Thanks for the favouriting and alerting. Thanks to Naleylover23xo, redqueen11, norning1, Raya, GoChollie and Kassie46 for reviewing. Here's the new chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

Chloe watched as Tess was shot at things in hopes of something opening up and them being able to get out of Watchtower. Tess had somehow gotten into Watchtower, and now she and Chloe were stuck inside together. Neither woman was happy about this.

"In the event that I die of starvation or, oh, say a ricocheting bullet, do you mind telling me how you got in here?" Chloe asked, running various scenarios through her head.

"You're sloppy, Chloe. I've got thousands of samples of your DNA from all the times you've spied on me. It's called a DNA Cloak," Tess said, pulling out the device she was talking about.

"Well aren't you fancy?" Chloe said sarcastically, picturing herself hitting Tess over the head with something hard.

"You know, getting in doesn't really seem to be our issue right now. How the hell do we get out of here?"

"Short answer - it's impossible. When Checkmate kidnapped me, I upgraded Watchtower's security to contain intruders like you. The only problem is, I was supposed to be on the outside," Chloe said, as Tess tried to dial out.

"Seriously?" Chloe said, looking at Tess. _I set this lockdown procedure up myself, and you think that you have an idea I didn't already think of. You don't know me at all._ "The lockdown prevents any signals from getting in or out... Wait a minute. Watchtower didn't react because you attacked me. We're on lockdown because some hacking transmitter was detected. The initial signal managed to pirate some data before my firewall blocked it, and the thing is still alive. It's trying to break through another firewall, Tess. It's trying to give away our location. What did you bring in here?" Chloe asked worriedly.

"Nothing. All I wanted to do was erase any info you had on the Kandorians, not re-route it," Tess told her.

"I knew you were the Kandorians' lapdog, but I didn't realize you were Zod's little bitch, too," Chloe said acidly... "Alright look," Chloe said, losing the attitude. "If you're not behind this, there's only one other group I can think of that wants Watchtower this badly."

And that was Checkmate.

"Okay, if I was hiding a transmitting tracking device, I would want to make it as unassuming as possible. Which means I can probably count this out," Chloe said, going through some of Tess' things. "Fever coloured lipstick. Really?" Chloe said.

"Well, I was gonna go with Plain Jane, but you seem to have that market cornered... Watchtower downloads what amounts to the Library of Congress every three seconds, which means in half that time, Checkmate could have attained my entire team's database."

"And all of your files on the Kandorians," Tess said, to which Chloe nodded.

"Now, if it wasn't planted in your things, it must be on you," Chloe said suddenly, running a detector across Tess.

"What? Chloe, this is ridiculous, okay?" Tess insisted.

"It's in your body, Tess, just beneath your skin," Chloe said, fully prepared to cut into the other woman to get it out.

"Get it out of me. Now," Tess said, panicked.

Chloe began to cut into Tess' skin with a scalpel. "Oh my God. It moved," Chloe said.

"When it feels threatened, it burrows deeper into the host. We'll never get it out now," Tess said, dread coming over her.

"How did you know that?" Chloe asked her.

"It's a Checkmate device - a mechanical parasite powered by the host's biorhythms."

"Well, you know what they say- You lie down with dogs, you end up with fleas," Chloe told her.

"Laugh it up, Chloe, but when Checkmate finds us, we'll both be dead," Tess reminded her.

Chloe wanted to punch her in the face.

o-o-o-o

Oliver lowered himself into the mansion, and was quickly joined in company by Zod.

"You are unmistakably the one they call Green Arrow. A rebel with _many_ causes."

"Glad to know my reputation still precedes me. You must be Zod. Soldier with no army," Oliver said, giving the other man a look-over. He didn't look like anything special.

"I see my reputation precedes me too," Zod smiled... "I find it disgusting how quickly you humans can betray your own. That one," he said, referring to the dead man on the floor, "gave up all sorts of useful information before he died- about something your government called Checkmate. And about who they're after."

"Not too long ago, a gift wrapped _me _ was at the top of that wish list," Oliver said.

"And now Tess is. Checkmate is using her to get to us. Hunting us to the death. Having been on the receiving end of their terrorist schemes, why don't you join me against our common enemy," Zod suggested, scheming.

"Well, I'm flattered, but if I let you go after Checkmate, you'll start World War 3. It's not an option," Oliver said.

"Your conviction is admirable. But you can't possibly think you're faster than me," Zod said.

"I've always been taught to favour accuracy over speed," Oliver said, releasing an arrow, as Zod started towards him.

Oliver ended up getting smashed into the wall and mirror. Zod was standing looking down at him. And then Zod fell to his knees. Oliver's arrow made contact. And it was a Kryptonite arrow.

"Bulls-eye," Oliver said. _Don't screw with me and a bow and arrow. You won't win._

o-o-o-o-o

"Air supply terminated," Watchtower's system said.

Chloe headed back over to Tess, handing her a bottle of water, sitting down next to her. At this point, she didn't even really hate Tess. She was pissed as hell, but she thought she might actually be feeling the _tiniest_ bit sorry for the other woman.

"We've got 3 minutes of air left," Chloe said calmly. "You think Checkmate will find us before then?"

"Asphyxiation or a firing squad," Tess said. One of the two. That's how they would die.

"Damned if we do. Damned if we don't," Chloe said.

"Just damned," Tess clarified. "I just wanted to save the world."

"That's funny. Last time I checked you were just trying to get rid of everyone in it," Chloe said, unable to keep her mouth shut

"Paint my ideals however you want, but you and yours don't trust people anymore than I do. This entire building was programmed to prevent anyone from getting close to you," Tess said.

Chloe remained speechless for a moment and considered Tess' words. And as much as she hated to even think it, Tess was exactly right. "Yeah, I guess I lost my faith in people a long time ago, too," Chloe admitted. _No harm in admitting that now. I'm gonna be dead and gone in a few minutes._

"It's why you won't let Oliver get close to you," Tess said.

_Wow. How can she know this? How does she know that I actually still am like that sometimes?_

Chloe knew that Oliver's feelings for her were real, but there was still always a part of her that expected him to just get up and leave one day. That was one of her reasons for having tried to keep him at a distance for quite awhile, and why she still did sometimes.

"And why I can't blame him when he eventually leaves," Chloe said, responding to the other woman

"He's not gonna leave you," Tess said with a sad smile. _You're a stupid woman if you can't see that the last thing Oliver would do is leave you. _"With you he has a purpose," Tess said, turning to look at her for a moment, before looking away again. "I wish I could have given him that... And it kills me, because you have everything right in front of you and you can't even see it."

Chloe took it all in. She wasn't quite sure what to say.

"They broke through the final firewall. Checkmate's gonna be here any minute," Chloe said, switching topics.

"As long as they torture us with the A.C. on, I'll die happy," Tess said, pressing the water bottle to her head.

"Cold," Chloe said, springing up. "Okay, Watchtower's cooling system uses a special mix of liquid helium and nitrogen. It's cold enough to shatter steel," Chloe said, energy rushing through her body.

"What are you waiting for?" Tess asked.

"If I pull these tanks, then the mainframe will melt. All my work- Watchtower's gone," Chloe said.

_I can't lose all that information. I can't lose Watchtower._

"If you don't, we die," Tess said, trying to put things into perspective.

_You can still try and put everything back together later, maybe you won't lose all of the information. Suck it up, Sullivan- it's the information or your life. _Chloe nodded at Tess, and pulled the tank. She threw it towards the door and Tess fired a shot.

The ladies got to work and pushed the loaded desk at the door and got themselves out.

o-o-o-o

"Why don't you just murder me now? Isn't that what your race does?"

"Sometimes," Oliver admitted, getting up with effort, no longer in his Green Arrow gear. "And I would love to, believe me. But although inconvenient and a lot less fun, I made a commitment to Clark to help save the world peacefully," he said, looking at his wound in the mirror. "Now, that said, you bulldoze me again- I might have a change of heart."

After a moment, Oliver called Clark. "I found what we're looking for. I'll give you a little hint - It's bigger than a breadbox."

"Zod?" Clark asked.

"Yep," Oliver replied.

"I'll be right there."

"Why don't you take your sweet time, because I have everything under- control" Oliver noticed that Zod wasn't lying on the floor anymore.

_Shit!_

Before Oliver could make sense of anything Zod scorched him- and badly.

Clark was at the mansion in the blink of an eye.

"Oliver?" Clark called out. "No!" he said when he spotted Oliver lying on the ground, with a Z literally burned into the flesh on his chest. "Zod," he seethed.

o-o-o-o

"I don't get it, you're in the clear," Tess said, as Chloe walked into the hospital with her. "We escaped before Checkmate got a hit on Watchtower's address."

"That doesn't make you any less of a liability, Tess. You still know the secret identities of all my most valuable players," Chloe told her.

"There's no sense in both of us getting captured."

"I'm not letting you out of my sight until we get rid of your little friend," Chloe said, and she meant it.

Chloe and Tess settled down in a small room where Chloe raided one of the hospital cabinets.

"Atropine? What the hell are you gonna do with that?" Tess asked, not happy.

"There's no time. Look, if you're right and that transmitter is powered by your biorhythms, then the only way I can turn it off is to stop your heart... I have to kill you Tess, and this is the only way I'm gonna bring you back," Chloe said, almost not believing the words coming out of her mouth.

"You're asking for a pretty big leap of faith here," Tess said, anxiety in her voice.

"You're gonna have to trust me," Chloe said.

Tess considered it all for a moment before laying down and unbuttoning her top. _She's not gonna bring me back, is she?_

"Are you ready?" Chloe asked as Tess stared intently at her. Chloe got the defibrillator ready.

"Do it," Tess said, literally putting her life in the other woman's hands.

Chloe placed that pads on her chest and did it. Tess gasped as the huge shock went through her body, and then she fell back onto the gurney, dead. And killing the transmitting device and signal along with her. Chloe zipped up Tess in the body bag. As soon as she did it, Chloe got to the ground and hid between two hospital carts. She didn't get back up until the Checkmate guys headed the other way in the hospital.

They had tracked Tess and her here, but now their signal was dead.

Chloe unzipped the body bag but then she turned away, heading for the door. She couldn't do it, though. She couldn't just leave Tess there, dead.

"Son of a bitch," She cursed.

She plunged the needle with the Atropine in it into Tess's chest, and her heart fell when Tess wasn't revived instantly. Chloe felt like her own heart had stopped. _Oh my God. I waited_ _too long. I actually killed her. Oh God, no!_

A split second later Tess gasped for air and sat up, and Chloe could feel her own heart beating once again. Tess painfully pulled out the gigantic needle from her chest. She made a move to get out of the bed and Chloe lent her a bit of physical support

"I really- I really didn't think you'd do it- bring me back," Tess said.

"Neither did I," Chloe admitted.

Tess started to get off of the gurney and once again Chloe gave her some support. Tess headed for the door but Chloe stopped her. Chloe was conflicted about what exactly she was feeling toward Tess but she needed to make something clear. "Just for the record, I just saved your ass. You say anything about me or mine to anyone- next time you won't wake up. You understand?" Chloe said.

"Guess you'll have to trust me," Tess said, right before leaving, looking her straight in the eye.

It wasn't long before Chloe got a call from Emil and Clark telling her that Oliver was here at the hospital. He'd been attacked by Zod. Chloe felt like she was going to fall down, and her heart started to beat at a mile a minute. She needed to calm down. She took a moment and regained her composure. "I'm here at the hospital. Where are you?"

Not even 2 minutes later she was standing in front of Emil and Clark, and they were filling her in on what had happened and what was wrong with Oliver. And she had told them the basics on Tess and Watchtower. Emil, almost immediately after, let Chloe in to see Oliver.

He observed her with him for a moment, and it was very clear that something strong had developed between them.

Good for them, he thought. Hopefully everything would work out okay.

Clark told Chloe not to worry about telling them team, he'd get Emil on that for her, which he did, just before rushing off in search for Zod.

Chloe was in the room alone with Oliver. He was just lying there. He wasn't awake. His chest was covered in bandages from where Zod had burned him. She took his unresponsive hand in her own and she just stared at him for awhile. Look what Zod had done to him. Her eyes were wet with tears, but she wasn't going to let them fall right now. She needed to stay focused and alert. She put her hand on his face and rubbed his cheek with her finger for a moment.

She noticed that Clark was back and she stepped outside to see him.

"Please tell me you found that Z-branding bastard so we can slap him back across the universe," Chloe said, brushing aside the coffee that Clark had brought for her. She didn't want coffee. She wanted Zod to pay.

"Zod's on the move, and there's no sign of Faora or the Kandorians. Maybe if I can reach the others, I can talk some sense into them," Clark said.

"We may be too late for that. That's the castle," Chloe said, as she and Clark looked at the hospital's television screen. "Zod's attacked Checkmate."

"Oliver was personal," Clark said. "With this, Zod just declared war."

Chloe said. "You're not gonna like where he's gathering his troops. My eye in the sky above the Fortress is picking up movement."

And with that Clark sped off again.

What the hell kind of a life did they all lead? They all needed some normalcy.

What Chloe needed more than anything at the moment, however, was to see Oliver's eyes open.

Chloe went back into Oliver's room. Emil was there.

"He's gonna be okay, right?" Chloe asked Emil.

Emil nodded at her. "It's gonna take a bit of time. I want to keep him here for at least a few days. We'll do some surgery on his chest. We'll make sure scarring isn't an issue. I'm actually going to get on the surgery right away. I'm gonna get on that soon. He'll be okay, Chloe. He'll need you, you know, but he'll be fine. So be strong okay?"

Chloe nodded.

"So hang around, but soon, I want you to get out of here. Go to your apartment, get some rest. Sleep or just relax or something. You've been through hell yourself tonight."

"_If_ I leave when you do the surgery, how long will it take?" Chloe asked.

"Not too long," Emil told her. "But I don't expect him to really wake up when it's done, so you could just spend the night at home."

"He can walk, right?" Chloe asked, kind of ignoring what Emil had just said.

"Everything looks fine. There's no reason why he won't be able to walk, though, like I said I want to keep him here for a few days."

"I'll think about leaving, I don't know yet. I'll decide in a bit," Chloe told him, just wanting to be alone with Oliver.

Emil left the room and Chloe got her wish. "You scared the crap out of me for awhile there, Ollie," Chloe whispered. "I _hate _seeing you in here. You should _never _be in a hospital bed. Emil said you'll be fine, but I'm still flipping out here. I'd really just love to see you open your eyes... I know it could have been worse than this, but even this is too much. I hope Clark finds Zod and kicks his stupid ass all over the place, and then brings him to me so I can do the same thing. "

With one hand, Chloe held onto Oliver's right hand, and with her other, she traced some of the spots on his chest that were bandaged up. "So, I don't want to leave. I want to stay here until I actually get to see you open your eyes, but I know you'd want me to get out of here," Chloe said, to an unresponsive Oliver.

"It's not right seeing you like this. I want you up and about. I want to see your eyes open. I want to see you smile," Chloe whispered, as she shed some tears.

Seeing him here like this was having a physical as well as emotional effect on her. Her body was actually hurting. She felt physically weak and drained, and she couldn't stand it.

"I know you'd want me to just go home and shut my eyes and relax and take a breather. I'm kinda juggling with going with my way or yours. I already know what you're gonna say when you get up and you see my worried face. You're gonna ask me what's wrong and how I am, and then when I tell you everything else that went down tonight you're gonna tell me to get the hell out of the hospital, and to go take care of myself and get some sleep. I'm starting to think that maybe I should get out of here for awhile, that way I can tell you to shut up when you tell me that I should get some rest, because I already did... Okay then, it looks like I'm actually gonna get out of here. You need to hurry up and get better," Chloe said wiping her eyes and letting out a sad laugh.

"Okay, so Emil is gonna come in and kick me out in a couple minutes I think," Chloe got up and leaned down to place a long and soft kiss on Oliver's forehead. "I'll see you soon, Queen," she said, finally leaving the room.

"Hey beautiful."

Chloe looked up to be greeted by Bart and she smiled. There were 4 people who could do that- 4 people who could make her smile even when things were going to hell: Oliver, Clark, Lois and Bart.

"Hey you," she said, giving him a hug.

"How's Bossman doing?" he asked. "I did my speedy thing and got here as soon as I could after I got the message from Dr. Hamilton, Clark sent me one too. He didn't want you to be alone."

"You didn't have to come because he asked you to," Chloe said, feeling a pain in her chest.

"I'd already made up my mind on coming 'Licious. Clark's message wasn't what made me come... I wanted to check if Tall and Green in there was alright with my own eyes. And I wanted to make sure you were okay, too. I didn't think you'd be taking this too well."

"Thanks for coming," she said sincerely. "Go in if you want to see him for a minute, Emil's gonna be here anytime now, though, so hurry up, cuz he's gonna kick you out so they can start surgery."

"Nah, it's okay," Bart said. "Emil's already here."

Chloe turned around and saw that Emil had popped up out of nowhere.

"Okay, Bart, why don't you take her out of here. Bring her back to her apartment and tell her to get some rest. Your Watchtower has had quite the night of her own, aside from all of this with Oliver."

"I'm going. I'm going," Chloe said. "But I'll be back in the morning."

"Let's get out of here," Bart said.

"You're coming with me?" Chloe asked.

"Yep," Bart said. "I don't actually trust you to go home and rest, so I'm coming to make sure that you do. That, and I don't want you to be alone right now. Clark said Lois had an article to work on or something and I know Clark's looking for Zod."

"Bart, you're sweet, but you don't have to come with me," Chloe said.

"I'm coming with you. You're not getting rid of me."

"Okay," she said quietly. "Thanks."

o-o-o-o-o

_Wow, I'd better get some sleep tonight. I can't be doing stupid things on the job._

Emil looked down at Oliver as he removed some of his bandages to prepare for surgery. Emil must have been stupidly distracted before or something, because he had apparently bandaged areas that had not been burned by Zod.

Emil removed a few bandages to find perfectly fine, unaffected skin.

He shook his head, annoyed with himself, but pushed those thoughts out of his head as he removed the other bandages, the ones that really were covering a bunch of Oliver's burnt flesh.

It was really unfortunate that Zod had done this to Oliver, but Emil held onto hope that Zod was going to get what was coming to him soon enough.

Emil paged the other doctors that would be assisting him with Oliver's surgery and got ready to focus.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Can I get you anything?" Chloe asked Bart as they got to her apartment at the Talon. As she reached out to lock the door, she had to use the wall to steady herself. She was feeling dizzy and faint.

"Don't worry about me. I'll raid your fridge if I get hungry. Go lie down, Chlo. You look like you're going to pass out."

"I _feel _like I'm going to pass out," Chloe admitted. "It just hit me out of nowhere before. I guess the freaking out in my head travelled through the rest of my body. Seeing him lying there like that- it's just- I couldn't stand it," Chloe said.

"He's gonna be okay, beautiful," Bart said.

"I _hate _Zod. I mean, I've pretty much always hated the guy since we found out about him, but _now, _I want to see the guy dead, or at the very least, gone from this planet."

"You really fell for Bossman, huh?" Bart said, with a small smile.

"Yeah," Chloe said after a minute. "I guess I did," she told Bart, rubbing her head.

"Go to bed, gorgeous. Get some rest. You'll see him tomorrow, and he'll be better."

"Okay," Chloe said, body sore and tired, feeling like she wasn't going to be able to keep her eyes open much longer. "Bart, seriously, you don't need to stay. I'll be fine. I'm just going to knock out anyway. I don't want to keep you cooped up in this little place."

"I _want _to stay, okay? It'll make me feel better. You know you're not gonna let yourself fully sleep tonight because you're gonna keep checking your phone for word from Clark or Emil. Your day has been crazy, you need real rest. Take care of yourself tonight, and tomorrow you can go back to taking care of everyone else. I'm not tired, so go to bed, really just let yourself sleep and I'll let you know if anything comes up, alright?" Bart said, taking a breath.

Chloe laughed a bit. He was right, she wouldn't be able to really get an actual good night's sleep because she would be constantly checking her phone.

"You promise that you'll get me up if there's any important news?" Chloe asked.

Bart nodded.

"Okay, thanks Bart," Chloe said. "Take whatever you want from the fridge. Lois ordered some movie channels, if you're in the mood for a movie. Make yourself at home."

"Alright," Bart said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she replied, heading off to her bed.

Chloe got into her bed and grabbed the second pillow, the pillow Oliver had used earlier in the week. She hugged the pillow to her chest and closed her eyes.

The night turned into morning, and Bart was still wide-awake. He hadn't heard anything from Emil but Clark had texted him asking if Chloe had gotten any rest and saying that nothing was new and that there was no sign of Zod.

He had checked on Chloe a couple times and was glad that she had fallen asleep.

Bart got up and searched Chloe's fridge for something to eat. He wasn't hungry before, but his appetite was back now. There was still half a box of pizza, so he grabbed a few slices and popped them into the microwave.

Just as the microwave beeped to tell him that the pizza was done being heated up, his phone also beeped.

Bart picked up his phone and saw a message from Emil. It said that he and Chloe could come by now if they wanted to. Oliver wasn't awake yet, but the surgery went fine.

Bart was glad to hear that everything went well. He didn't really want to wake Chloe up because he was sure that she could use as much rest as possible, but he knew that she'd be pissed if she found out Emil said they were allowed to see Oliver and he hadn't woken her up.

Bart went over to Chloe and shook her lightly. "Come on, let's go see Bossman," he said.

Chloe didn't move or open her eyes, so Bart tried again. "Wakey wakey," he said.

She still wasn't moving or opening her eyes, and now Bart was getting a little bit worried.

He shook her a bit harder and spoke louder, but she still wasn't waking up, and now Bart started to freak out.

_What the hell? You need to wake up, because I think I'm about to have a heart-attack._

"You're scaring the hell out of me," Bart said, trying to shake her awake one last time.

Still nothing.

Bart was about to pick Chloe up and run her to the hospital, but she suddenly shot up in her bed.

Bart sunk to the floor, relieved.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked, looking down at Bart.

"I'm recovering from a near heart-attack, thank you very much," Bart said, rubbing his temples. "What the hell was that, Chloe?"

"What was what?" she asked.

"You were not waking up. I shook you, I called you- nothing. I started to think you were dead there for a second," Bart said, getting up.

"I didn't hear you. I didn't feel anything," she said. "Sorry if I freaked you out."

"I didn't actually get to the point of having the heart-attack, so you're forgiven, I suppose," Bart said, managing a grin.

"Any news?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing new on the Zod front," Bart told her. "But Emil just sent me a message saying that we can go see Oliver. That's why I was trying to wake you up."

"Let's go then," Chloe said immediately.

"You sure you don't want to change your clothes?" Bart said

"You're right, I should change."

"I'll see you in the kitchen," Bart said, leaving so that Chloe could get dressed.

Chloe was quick to change into another pair of clothes and wash her face and brush her teeth.

"Good to go?" Bart asked.

Chloe nodded.

"Back to the hospital, then," Bart said.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Emil had come back into the room to check on Oliver quickly before he went to start to do some of the other work he needed to do.

He had just come to pop his head in and make sure everything looked alright, but Oliver's eyes had just opened. Emil wasn't going to rush out now.

"Look who's awake," Emil said.

"Do I want to look down?" Oliver asked, remembering that Zod had burned him.

"We did some surgery. You'll be fine. You won't be able to tell that he burned you."

"Good," Oliver said.

"Clark's been out searching for Zod. I got Chloe to get out of here and get some rest- bart came by and made sure she went home, cuz she had quite the hellish day herself yesterday. The rest of the team wanted to come, but they were too far and I told them you'd be fine anyway,"

"What about Chloe, what happened to her?" Oliver asked, trying to sit up.

"Tess had a gun pointed at her at one point," Emil started to explain, but then he got a page and had to rush out of the room.

"What the hell?" Oliver said, attempting to get out of the bed.

"_What_ do you think you're doing? Lie back down, mister," Chloe ordered, walking into Oliver's room, followed by Bart.

Bart grinned. "What's up Bossman?"

"I don't know, apparently this one got a gun pulled on her last night," Oliver said, rubbing his head, pointing at Chloe.

"_That _was probably the easiest part of last night," Chloe said. "Trust me, the gun part with Tess isn't that bad."

"I'm glad you're up, but I think I'm gonna take my leave now. The need for sleep is catching up with me," Bart said.

"Thanks for staying with me, Bart," Chloe said.

"No problem, give me a call if you guys need anything," Bart said, as he headed out the door.

Chloe took a seat on the chair next to Oliver's hospital bed.

"You don't know how good it is to see you with your eyes open," Chloe sighed. "I was kind of freaking out last night."

"Apparently I'm all good now," Oliver said, pushing himself over a bit in the hospital bed.

"Stop moving," Chloe said. "Just because you can move right now, doesn't mean you should."

"I'm making room for you," Oliver said with a grin.

"Oliver, that bed is not made for two people. It's made for one- the person who just got operated on."

"Well, speaking as the person who just got operated on, I can tell you that I want some company up here," Oliver said.

Chloe laughed and just shook her head. "Fine," she said. "But you're going to get me in trouble with Emil. He's not gonna be very happy with me."

"Serves him right, let him get mad," Oliver said, grinning. "He'd deserve it for saying what he did and then just vanishing."

Chloe laughed, getting onto the bed with Oliver.

"He said that Tess had a gun on you last night, and then he just rushes out of the room. Not the smartest thing to do," Oliver said.

"Is that why you were trying to get up- to come find me?" Chloe asked.

"Yep," Oliver said.

"That's sweet," Chloe said, taking his hand in hers. "But I'm fine, physically. It's all the other stuff that's really messed up."

"Like what?" Oliver asked.

"I killed Tess last night, and then I brought her back using atropine. And all my Watchtower work- pretty much destroyed, I think," Chloe said quietly.

"What happened?" Oliver asked her, rubbing her hand.

"I'll tell you in a bit, okay?" she said. "For now, just let be here with you. Give me like half an hour to focus on the good stuff, namely you being alright, before we get into the bad."

"No problem," Oliver said.

"Good," Chloe said, giving him a soft kiss. "I think I'm just gonna stare at you for a bit, if you don't mind," she said, grinning.

"By all means, go ahead Miss Sullivan," Oliver said, grinning back.


	17. Chapter 17

o-0-o-0-o Hey everyone. Sorry it took so long for this update but I'm really busy right now so I hope you'll enjoy this chapter even though it's not super long. I'm sorry for the shortness of this, but I love this little chapter anyway. Thanks to everyone who alerted and favourited and to redqueen11, , Naleylover23xo, morning1 for reviewing. Enjoy and review, please o-0-o-0-o

"Chloe, the Book of Rao isn't here. I know you just came across that footage, but there's gotta be something more on it," Clark said, determined.

"I'm looking at it now, Clark. Jor-El put it in the north wall. I wish I could give you more, but thanks to Tess' little break-in, Watchtower can barely run a game of Donkey Kong, let alone an image enhancement program," Chloe replied, sounding exhausted.

"Chloe, if that book really holds unlimited power, then we need to find it."

"You know Clark, this could explain why our favourite alien nation have gone awol. I mean maybe Zod and the Kandorians are trying to track down the holy Rao grail before we do," Chloe said.

And that ended that particular call.

Chloe continued working away. She was trying, best as she could, to get Watchtower up and running again, working like a crazy person. She knew she was being stubborn, but she wouldn't let anyone help. If this place was going to get fixed up, she was going to be the one to bring it back to all its glory, no one else. Watchtower was literally hers. This building was hers.

She was pretty sure Jimmy wouldn't be proud of her if she just let everything go, if she just gave up. He had bought this place for her. The life she hid from him, her role with heroes- in the end he knew and he had respected her for it. He would have wanted her to pick up the pieces and trudge on. Even if she hadn't thought about Jimmy at that moment, she was Watchtower. This was her business. It was her job. It was her responsibility...

Chloe worked and worked until she heard from Clark again, and she'd made quite a bit of progress by that point.

"Listen, Clark, the Kandorians are still MIA," she told him.

"What about the book of Rao? I've searched the entire farm. It's not here."

"Yeah, well lucky for us, my mini Watchtower-that-could is actually pulling off a monster-wide web search. So, if there's any mention of the Book of Rao anywhere in this-"

A red queen logo appeared on the screen in front of Chloe.

_Oh no._

"Bad news Clark. It looks like I just got a Red Queen virtual smackdown."

"Red Queen? Chloe, that sounds like Checkmate," Clark said.

"Despite her handle, the Red Queen isn't actually a figure on Checkmate's board. In fact, rumour has it that her name has been filed under Big Bad Nemesis," Chloe informed him.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm sort of held hostage here until after my mom's family dinner," Clark said.

Chloe went back to tinkering with the computers and tried not to think about Oliver. She had Ollie on the brain and the only way that she could _not _think of him was continuing her work with trying to reboot Watchtower.

The day consisted of helping Clark, thinking about Ollie, thinking about her relationship with Clark and the person she'd become, and fixing up Watchtower.

Her head hurt. The most recent conversation with Clark had Chloe giving him information that sent him off in a mad dash to make sure Lois and Perry didn't get into too much trouble.

Chloe had been working her ass off and she had to say she was kind of proud of herself. Watchtower was obviously nowhere near what it used to be, but she'd got the important basics back up and running. Now that she had that fixed, well fixed it to the best of her human abilities, her mind was free to wander again and she quickly steered it away from Oliver, which was where it automatically wandered to.

Clark, what was there to say about Clark? He was her best friend. She loved him, she did, even if sometimes it didn't seem like it. They still needed to have the talk, the real big one, she just didn't know when it was going to happen.

Chloe was brought out of her thoughts when she noticed Clark's presence.

"Chloe? Any sign of Tess Mercer? Her reign as the Red Queen is about to end."

"While you were being Kryponited by our mystery majesty, Tess Mercer was being treated for cracked ribs at Met-Gen."

Thinking about Tess and the hospital made her think about Oliver and that he would be getting out of the hospital tonight, and for the first time today she somehow actually allowed the thought to fully pass through her mind- the thought that she so badly wanted to be with him right now- that she'd rather be helping him get ready to go back home than be in here trying to get this place back up and running. There was a desire to just get to be with Oliver for awhile and not think about anything else.

"Then we still have to find the Red Queen. When will Watchtower be up and running?" Clark asked.

"Well I can't exactly call the Geek Squad, Clark, and I haven't really had much time to-"

"Well, I've seen you overhaul Watchtower in one night, Chloe. What's the hold-up?"

"Watchtower's ready to go, _I'm_ not. Clark, I found that footage of Jor-El and the Book of Rao months ago," Chloe said, kind of cringing on the inside.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry. You know, I got tangled in my own little world-wide-web and I just lost track of what was important... Clark, when you disappeared from my life, I retracted into Watchtower. And as I became Big Brother- I guess more like Big Sister. It's easy to think that having all the information is the same as having all the answers... But I can't be the eye in the sky anymore, Clark. And now that I have Ollie, I- I wanna plug into the real world. Virtual reality bites," Chloe said, tearful, just saying what she felt at the moment. Just being honest in the moment. More honest than she'd been in a long time. She couldn't believe that she had just said that.

"Chloe, what you've created here- it's bigger than both of us. It'll go on to serve future generations," Clark told her.

"I'm not the hero here."

"You may not be saving people from train wrecks, Chloe, or shoot-outs, but you're just as much a hero as the rest of us," Clark said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "We're on the brink of war, Chloe, and the world needs you. _I _need you."

It didn't really make sense, feeling one way one minute then feeling something different the next, but it was like those words were a key, a key that unlocked something. Maybe for a minute, she had got it in her head that she was only seen as Watchtower- to do this, to do that, that that's all she was-maybe that's why she said she couldn't do this anymore. Who knows? But hearing Clark say those words, hearing that _she_ was needed, hearing that he needed her was just what _Chloe_ needed to hear.

She hit a button and got things up and running. _Yes_ she wanted Oliver and _yes_ she wished sometimes she could just be normal, just be selfish, but that craziness that she had just been thinking, it really _was_craziness. She did _not_ want to give up being Watchtower. If she were honest it would kill her if someone else took over her role. And this is what she wanted, what she'd wanted for so long. She belonged here. This was what she was meant to do. And it was herself, not being Watchtower, that would prevent her from moving forward with Oliver. She had used her role as Watchtower as a way to prevent moving forward before, but she didn't want to stay still anymore. She wanted to move ahead with Oliver. It was up to her to do it. There was nothing in her way except herself, and she was going to try real hard to make the jump with Oliver. This job, this team was such a huge part of who she was. Chloe took a deep breath and made a decision.

_I'm Chloe Sullivan and I_can_have it all. I can do this. I can do this thing with Ollie. I can be_ _Watchtower but also stop being Big Sister. I can be strong and I can get things back to normal_ _with Clark if I want to. We just need to talk. It's been a year now. It's time to get back on track._ _It's time to live life properly again. It's time to let your feelings do some of the thinking, Sullivan._ _You're going to do one thing right now. You're going to say one thing you need to say to Clark._ _The rest will come later, but for now, say one thing that he needs to hear and one thing you have_ _to let out. And later you're going to say one important thing to someone else too..._

"Clark, I- I just want you to know that even when I hurt you, I was trying to protect you."

And Clark did know that. He _always _should have. And as she said those words to him, he figured something else out too. He figured out that it was his mom who was the Red Queen. He had to go see her, but right now he needed to do something more.

"Hey Chloe."

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna hug you know, okay?" Clark said with a grin and Chloe just nodded her head, laughing and crying at the same time, returning Clark's tight and comforting squeeze.

o-o-o-o-o-

"I know that I'm not going to be able to wrangle another day out of you for taking it easy, but at least try to relax tonight," Emil told Oliver.

"You're definitely right, you're not wrangling another day of doing nothing out of me, or another minute for that matter," Oliver said, grinning.

"He'll start to go a little crazy tomorrow if he can't do anything, but I'll make sure the stubborn one at least takes it easy tonight," Chloe said, walking into Oliver's room at the hospital.

"_Thank you._ It's nice to speak to a normal, reasonable person. This guy hasn't exactly been either of those things," Emil said, shaking his head. "He's all yours Chloe. Good luck."

"What did you do to him?" Chloe asked, laughing as Emil left the room.

"I've been bored all day," Oliver said with a smirk, shrugging his shoulders. "I've been a very annoying patient. That's why he's less than thrilled with me," he said, opening the door Emil had just closed.

"You're horrible," Chloe said rolling her eyes, walking out first, Oliver following.

"You like me anyway," Oliver said, giving her a wink.

She was so happy to see him up and about even if he was driving poor Emil crazy.

"Kind of adore you, actually," she said, not turning around to see the look on his face.

She didn't have to see his face to know that he was smiling wide.

o-o-o-o-o

"You're not letting me go home?" Oliver asked, laughing.

"That's correct," Chloe said, ushering Oliver into her apartment at the Talon and closing the door behind them.

"But I'm staying here?"

"Correct again," Chloe said, tossing her purse onto the kitchen counter.

"Don't take this the wrong way cuz you know how much I love our little sleepovers, but why am I not allowed to go home?" Oliver asked, amused.

"Your place is full of things that you will find and use to do anything but relax. There's not that problem here," Chloe said with a grin. "I was serious when I said I'd make sure you relaxed tonight. Tomorrow you can go back to being your stubborn self even though Emil thinks you should take it easy for another day."

"_I'm _stubborn? This coming from the woman who refused to let anyone help her for the past couple days with trying to get Watchtower back to functioning mode," Oliver said, still amused, seating himself on the sofa.

"That's besides the point," Chloe said, rolling her eyes.

"If I'm supposed to be relaxing then get over here and keep me company. Don't neglect me," Oliver said, grinning, grabbing Chloe's hand and pulling her down onto the couch with him.

"Aren't you hungry?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Exactly," Chloe said, getting up again. "I'm trying to find the delivery menus so we can get some food. I'll be back in a second. There's no neglecting happening here today, trust me. In fact, you're probably gonna get sick of me pretty quick."

"Get sick of you? _ Never_," Oliver said, giving her a wink.

"Good to know," she responded, smiling, heading over to her massive pile out delivery menus.

She brought the pile over to the couch and handed some to Oliver. "What are you in the mood for?" she asked him.

"I've been craving tacos, I'm not gonna lie," Oliver said.

"We can do tacos," Chloe said, covering up a yawn. "You in the mood for anything else too?" she asked, grabbing her phone.

"Chicken fried rice," Oliver told her.

"Okay, so I'm calling Yum-Yum's and Ricky's," Chloe said, starting to dial.

"I love that you know the numbers off by heart," Oliver laughed.

"Me and Lois aren't exactly culinary experts- we know every delivery place around here," Chloe said, grinning.

Chloe quickly did the ordering and was back to focusing on Oliver before a couple minutes had passed.

"So, oh genius one," Oliver said with a smirk. "What's up with Watchtower? Did you manage to get anything working?"

"I did," Chloe said happily.

"So I'm allowed to call Victor now to send him in and see what his beyond human-capacity computer skills can do?" Oliver asked.

"I suppose so," Chloe said, sighing dramatically.

"You've been telling me to relax, but I think you probably need it more than me," Oliver said.

"I could do with some relaxation," Chloe admitted. "Which works just fine, cuz we can do it together."

"I guess relaxing doesn't sound so bad after all," Oliver said.

Chloe smiled and then asked, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, sidekick. Emil fixed me up."

"Just because he got rid of the burns doesn't automatically mean you're feeling fine," Chloe said.

"Valid point," Oliver said, "but I really am feeling fine."

"I'm glad."

"You don't really believe me," Oliver said, laughing. "I swear I'm fine, but you're kinda cute when you're all worried about me."

"At least this whole Zod situation amused one of us," Chloe said, rolling her eyes. "You didn't see what you looked like before," Chloe said, lifting Oliver's shirt up. "This hotness right here, wasn't looking anything like this after he burned you. It wasn't fun to see."

"It's all good now, so no worries anymore, okay Sullivan?" Oliver said, bumping Chloe with his shoulder.

"Okay," she said, nodding.

"So, have you missed me these past few days?" Oliver teased.

"I have," Chloe said truthfully.

_That bastard burning me sucked ass, but is it horrible that maybe I'm starting to think that that was one of the best thing's that's happened in a long time? I've got an 'I adore you' and an admission that she missed me out of it. _

"Good to know," he said, "cuz even though I've technically seen you everyday, I've kinda missed you like crazy. Too much hospital and Emil for my liking."

Chloe motioned Oliver closer with her finger.

"Hmm?" Oliver said when he got closer

"Nothing. Just wanted to do this," Chloe said with a grin, leaning over to kiss him.


	18. Chapter 18

0-o-0-o-0 Hey everyone. Thanks to those who have favourite and alerted, and thanks to whatweareafraidof, morning1, blue red wing, ica013, , Kassie46 for reviewing. This chapter takes place a bit before, during, and right after Salvation. I'm completely going my own way with the story right from where that episode ends. Hope you'll enjoy the chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think 0-o-0-o-0

Five days had passed, and now Chloe was standing in Watchtower with Oliver, Victor and Bart. Clark had just left, and A.C, Dinah, Emil and Jonn had been by earlier that day. Chloe made everyone come by to give out new security codes and stuff like that.

Chloe looked around and smiled.

"Happy again, Tower?" Victor asked with a grin.

"My little playhouse is completely up and running again, so yeah, I definitely happy," Chloe said.

"Glad you're smiling again, gorgeous, but how is it that none of you are thinking about the fact that all this could be gone in a few days," Bart said.

"Speedy-man, you're supposed to be my go-to guy to make me smile when everything's gone to shit and the others are seeing doom and gloom. Cheer up. Give yourself and this team some credit. There's no guarantee that we're going to get our asses handed to us," Chloe said, nudging Bart. "Everyone working together- I'd say this team is quite the force to be reckoned with."

Bart just smiled and shook his head. "Watchtower's got another title under her belt now- cheerleader."

"Well apparently someone needs to be," Chloe said, yawning. "Let's not call it cheerleader though, that brings back stupid memories," Chloe said with a little laugh, trying to get Bart to laugh a bit.

"You were a cheerleader?" all three guys asked at once.

"I went to Smallville High, okay," Chloe said laughing. "Meteor rock and bits infected like _everything_ that could be infected. Let's just say I had no say in the matter and it didn't last for more than 48 hours, and all I could do was cringe when I was back to normal."

"How come there's no pictures?" Oliver teased.

"Because I made sure all of them were destroyed," Chloe said with a smirk.

"I can just picture you hunting everyone with a camera down," Bart said, laughing, feeling better about the upcoming situation with the Kandorians.

"I wasn't very nice," Chloe said, grinning at the memory.

"I would have loved to have gone to high-school with you," Victor chuckled.

"You wouldn't have been bored at Smallville High, I'll tell you that," Chloe said, covering up another yawn.

"Have you slept at all in the past 24 hours?" Bart asked, laughing.

"No I haven't, and it's more like 48 hours than 24" Chloe admitted. "But I'm gonna go crash now that everything is right in the world and Speedy-man is smiling again. Nighty-night guys," Chloe said, heading off to the room she always slept in when she stayed at Watchtower.

She pulled off her pants and top and hopped into bed in just her bra and underwear. It was too hot for clothing and a blanket, so the clothing was shed.

Chloe let out a happy sigh when her head hit the pillow. These past 5 days had been exhausting. She'd had very little sleep because she was so focused on getting everything back to perfect at Watchtower.

Millions of dollars had been spent in mere minutes. Systems were changed. Codes were changed. New security features were introduced, just to name a few things.

A few minutes later, Oliver came into the room. "Still awake, Professor?"

"Barely," she whispered. "This pillow is _so _comfy... Are you joining me?' she asked sleepily.

"Am I invited?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Obviously, silly man," she answered, her eyes closing.

Chloe groaned when she heard her phone ring. "Ollie, can you grab my phone and see who it is? I don't wanna open my eyes."

Oliver picked up her phone and checked the caller I.D. "It's Selena," he said.

"Shit!" Chloe cursed. "I forgot to call her before. I suck," she said, sitting up in bed. "Pass me the phone," she said, covering another yawn.

"Hey Selena," Chloe said, trying to wake herself up. "Sorry I couldn't call you earlier, but there was this ridiculously long meeting," Chloe said, making up an excuse.

"That's okay," Selena said. "I've got you now."

"So, tell me- what's the verdict? What are we dealing with- xx or xy? And let me just say again, I can't believe you waited this long to find out," Chloe said to her friend, actually feeling more awake, excited to hear what she had to see.

"XX- I'm having a girl," Selena said, and Chloe could tell that she was smiling.

"You sound happy and relieved," Chloe said.

"Don't get me wrong, I would have loved this kid regardless of the gender, but yeah, I'm definitely relieved that it's a girl. I don't know if I would have known what to do with a boy, you know when he gets older and everything."

"You would have been fine," Chloe assured her. "But I'll admit, I'm really happy you're having a girl. Shopping for clothes for baby girls is way more fun than for baby boys. They have the cutest things for girls," Chloe said with a laugh.

"You need to come shopping with me soon," Selena said happily.

"Yeah we need to get the shopping started cuz you're gonna pop soon," Chloe laughed.

"Oh wow, I'm so sorry. I just looked at the time. It's really late."

"No worries," Chloe said.

"I'm gonna let you go. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Chloe."

"Sounds good. Have a good night," Chloe said, hanging up the phone. She turned to look at Oliver who had joined her in the bed.

"You suck," she said, seeing that he'd taken his shirt of.

"Why?" Oliver asked, amused.

"I'm tired, remember? I need sleep, but you come in here all gorgeous and shirtless and now, the last thing I want to do is sleep," Chloe said grinning and biting her lip.

"We can sleep later," Oliver said, laughing, pulling Chloe into his lap.

"Hello," Chloe said with a smirk.

"What's up, Sullivan?"

"Well-"

Oliver interrupted Chloe with a kiss.

Yeah, there wasn't going to be any sleep happening anytime soon.

o-o-o-o-o

Two days had passed since Chloe gave Bart her little pep talk, and she tried to keep her own words to him in her mind.

"You know, even though Watchtower is back in the game, I'm still coming up empty handed on the Kandorian front. It's like they vanished into thin air." Chloe told Oliver over their video conference conversation.

"You know, that might have something to do with the fact that they can fly," Oliver told her.

"Sarcasm noted," Chloe said with a grin.

"How do we know these people aren't half a galaxy away already?" Oliver asked.

"Zod doesn't wanna play Thunder Dome on a planet that is desolate. He needs people to rule over. I have a feeling the War of the Worlds is coming soon to a planet near us."

"I'm heading back to Watchtower. If a war breaks out I wanna be in the foxhole with you," Oliver told her.

"Oh, okay," was all Chloe could manage at that particular second.

Oliver knew he just threw her off a bit, so he tried to mumble some nonsense to deflect what he just said, and not overwhelm her. Chloe was so confusing to him sometimes.

"Because uh-" but he was coming up blank.

So Chloe finished the sentence off for him. "Right, because we need to protect Watchtower's database," she said.

That was pathetic, both Chloe and Oliver thought, and then both wondered why she was still being like this. Yes, she had been hurt and changed and had lost a lot of trust in people, but they'd been doing a lot better recently. She'd been opening up more and they both knew that there were mutual feelings there. She'd come out and said that she adored him, so why was this awkward?

_Just give her what she needs, you moron. You know she feels something for you, so just_ _suck it up and go along with her._

_You already admitted it Sullivan, you've got feelings for him. You know it and he knows_ _it. You couldn't have just said, 'Thanks that's sweet. I'd like to be with you if a war's going to break out too'? Apparently not._

Oliver and Chloe both quickly mentally berated themselves.

"Yeah, the database is important... Over and out," Oliver said pathetically, ending the video chat.

Chloe just shook her head at herself, and then she felt the familiar gust of wind. Clark had arrived.

"Hey, everyone's mobilizing. They're all out in the field and they're packing-"

"Kryptonite weapons?" Clark finished for her. "Chloe, that's only gonna stall them. We're no match for the Kandorians even when we work together... It's only a matter of time before Zod commands his soldiers to bring the world to its knees."

"Then let's move on to plan A. I assume you brought the infamous secret weapon...Wow," Chloe said when Clark handed her what she was referring to. "I still don't understand how the Red Queen of the Kent farm knew about the Book of Rao."

"My mom inherited the Kryptonian library when Lionel died... It's no surprise that Zod would lie. The Book of Rao is not a Bible. It was created by Jor-El to send the Kandorians to another world- a world they could call their own," Clark said.

"Let's fire up this intergalactic subway token and send our visitors on a fast train to Nirvana," Chloe said, feeling very upbeat at the thought of getting rid of the Kandorians.

"I can't. Once it's activated, it sends all Kryptonians to the new world," Clark told her.

"Including you," Chloe said, understanding sinking in.

"I know my destiny and it's here. I've seen it. Doctor Fate has seen it too. Jor-El's sent me on trials to prove it. I finally know who I am and what I'm meant to do here on Earth. I'm not leaving."

_Be selfish. Tell him he's right. Tell him he belongs here. Agree with him and you get to_ _keep your best friend... Can't. Maybe he's meant for more. You can't be selfish._

Chloe cringed on the inside, not wanting to say what she was going to say.

"Clark, no one wants to see you reach your true potential more than I do. I mean, I've been with you through every bump along this insane ride," Chloe said and Clark smiled a little bit at all of the memories that only he and Chloe shared. "But what if every trial has just been a preparation for you to make the ultimate sacrifice?"

"Why would my father have gone silent in the Fortress? Chloe, if this was a trial, my father would never skip out on the chance to give me a lecture."

"Because this isn't a trial, Clark. And maybe your father disappeared on you because he knew you needed to make this last mile on your own," Chloe said, hating every word that came out of her mouth.

"Then it's up to me," Clark said. "And I think there's another way to save Zod."

"Jor-El did not tell you to stay here and be our guardian," Chloe told him intensely.

"Are you saying it's selfish for me to try to save people?" Clark asked her, feeling confused and hurt.

"You think I want you to go?" Chloe asked him, exasperated and emotional herself. "Clark, I can't _imagine_ being in this world without you," she said honestly, and then her voice softened. "Look, you've inspired an entire team of heroes who will be here to protect us. And maybe your true purpose is to lead your own people," she said, not able to say anything else.

Clark looked at her for a moment and he smiled. "You sure you're not just trying to get rid of me?" he joked.

Chloe put her head in her hands and she let some tears fall. "Oh yeah, we've only been best friends for like _ever_ and now I'm just deciding I want you gone," she said with a shaky laugh.

"You might be right about my purpose, but I don't know, Chloe. I don't want to leave. I think I'm supposed to be here, but I've got to go do a couple things before I think about this anymore. I'll see you soon," he said, giving her a hug and dashing out.

Chloe shook her head and wiped her eyes. She _so _ didn't want Clark to leave, but she believed it was probably his destiny. But she couldn't think about that right now because they would likely literally be at war any time now. Chloe grabbed her coffee and chugged it down, heading back to her computers. She had to get her head back in the game.

Before long, Oliver showed up.

"Hey you," she greeted him.

"Hey yourself," he answered.

"You wouldn't happen to have dropped by a coffee place before you came here, would you?" Chloe asked, needing more coffee and not wanting to waste any time making more.

"I might have," Oliver said, grinning.

"And if you did, would you have brought me something?" Chloe asked.

"Something like what?" Oliver asked, dragging it out.

"Like a humungous coffee and maybe something sweet?" Chloe said.

Oliver walked over to the counter and put the stuff down. "Well come see what we've got here, Professor. There might be something you like."

"My hero," Chloe said with a smirk, eyeing the coffee and danish. "Thanks," she said.

"No prob... Alright Professor, let's get down to business," Oliver said, as he changed into his Green Arrow gear.

"Okay, well- that's just freaking lovely," Chloe hissed as she looked at her screens.

There had been various types of attacks in different parts of the world. She didn't even need a guess as to who was behind it, neither did Oliver.

"Kandorians," he muttered.

"I need to talk to some people," Chloe said, getting on the phone quick. "I'm getting in touch with some people at Q.I."

"You know what, I own the company and I guarantee you know more people in it than I do," Oliver laughed in spite of the situation.

"Watchtower's gotta be in the know, you know?" Chloe said, trying to smile in spite of the panic rising in her. "Hi," Chloe said when someone picked up. "I'm gonna need you to pass me through to Jan Lee please, and I'm also going to need Micheal Carrino , Nadia Ali, Liam O'Reilly, Carla Okunga, Dan Burns and Concetta Forrino in on that same call. I know it's a lot to ask and that you're probably busy, but I know you can do that for me," Chloe said patiently.

"And who exactly am I speaking with?" the woman on the other end of the phone asked.

"That's not of any concern right now actually, as you should know. If someone's got this particular phone number, you just pass them through to who they're asking for, Roberta, and from there I identify myself to them through a security code."

"How do you know my name?" the woman asked.

"It doesn't matter. I know where you live and where you went to school too, by the way," Chloe said with false sweetness and genuine annoyance, trying to make a point not to mess around.

"They're busy at the moment. The boss said to take messages for them. So I'll write down whatever you need to relay," the woman said snarkily.

"Roberta, I'm with your boss' boss' boss' boss' boss right now- as in Oliver Queen, as in the guy who _owns _ the company you work for. I'm gonna let him say hello so your voice software can confirm its him and then- and not a second later, you're going to do what I asked you to do, because if you don't, I'll find a way to convince Mr. Queen to fire your most unhelpful ass and then I'll hack into your personal computer and- well, you get the picture. I'm passing you to Mr. Queen now."

Oliver looked at her, amused and impressed.

"Roberta, this is Oliver Queen. Do what she says. Seriously," Oliver said and he handed the phone back to Chloe.

"Stupid bitch," Chloe muttered.

"We should just stick you on the bad guys, Sidekick," Oliver joked.

"That's better," Chloe said, hearing the ring that told her she was being transferred.

After a few minutes Chloe got off the phone and told Oliver what was up- Oliver and a bunch of screens- well people on screens. They linked up with Star Girl, Hawkman, Dinah, Victor and Jonn.

"All of our Queen Industries sources say that our military friends believe this is just some hoax... Any new activity?" Chloe asked the others.

"Star Girl online from the nation's capital. No sign of the Kandorians after the attack."

"Black Canary here. Story's the same in Athens."

"All I found in Giza are mummies," Hawkman said. "We need to flush these aliens out. Now, I've been around long enough to know the best way to win a war is to strike first."

"No, that's the best way to win a bowling tournament, Tweety," Oliver interrupted. "We're dealing with super-powered soldiers here."

"Just as expected, Mr. Green Jeans has gone yellow," Hawkman said.

Chloe was getting a little bit annoyed with dear Carter right now. "Okay, the Kandorians are Clark's people, so we're not gonna take any sort of action until he's with us," Chloe said.

"Watchtower's right," Jonn agreed.

"I agree with Hawkman," Victor said. "We wait too long, they'll have the advantage."

"I say we hold off," Jonn said. "Until Kal-El has a chance to weigh in"

"How long are we gonna wait, martian?" Victor said. "Long enough for them to wipe us out?"

"We wait and the Kandorians win," Star Girl said.

"Sit tight until they make their next move," Dinah said.

"Zod's symbols say one thing- he wants a fight. I say we move now and cause some pain," Hawkman said.

"At what cost?" Clark's voice sounded, entering Watchtower. "Your abilities allow you to come back Carter, after you die, but what about the others on both sides?"

"So you want us to play nice?" Hawkman said, clearly not thrilled.

"The Kandorians have been led astray by Zod. I don't wanna see them die any more than I wanna lose one of you. I will use the Book of Rao to send them all away."

Oliver knew the basics, but not everything about this Book of Rao thing, but he looked at Chloe and saw that she knew a lot more, and she didn't look like she was happy and dancing about it. She looked like she was trying to be strong.

"I've made my decision," he said, looking at Chloe, but talking to everyone. "And once I lead my people to another world, I'll never be able to come back."

"You need to think about this," Victor said.

"What about your life here?" Courtney had asked.

"There's gotta be another way," Dinah said.

"With us by your side, you don't have to do this alone," Carter said.

"This is the only peaceful way to eliminate the threat- without a war, a war that no one will win. Once the Kandorians are gone, there will be other threats to mankind," Clark said. "The world will need you. You'll have to work together to become the team you were meant to be... I once believed my destiny was here on earth but now you need to accept that destiny for me."

Oliver looked at Chloe for a second and saw that her eyes were starting to shine.

Chloe knew that she had been pushing him to accept his destiny and whatnot, but that didn't stop her from feeling like she was going to sick and start crying at any second. That didn't stop her from feeling like someone just died. She felt like- she didn't even know how to describe it.

Jonn nodded on screen.

Dinah said, "Clark's right."

"We'll protect the world- as one," Victor said.

"It has been my honour to serve alongside each and every one of you," Clark said.

"The honour was ours Kal-El," Carter said, giving Clark a sort of chest salute, which the others on screen did also.

Chloe knew the video feeds would be cutting off in like two seconds, so she could get out of there. She was about to cry and didn't want Oliver or Clark to see.

"I'm proud of you," Chloe said quickly to Clark, heading for the door. She needed a few minutes to herself.

"Chloe-" Clark started, wanting to go after her. _How the hell are we supposed to do this?_ _How do I say goodbye to her? How do I say goodbye to my best friend._

"You gotta let her go Clark," Oliver said. "She's trying to be strong, you know? When your oldest friend leaves forever there's really no way to say goodbye. That said, I think we both know there's someone else you need to see one last time."

"Considering everything Lois and I have been through, I don't think that such a good idea."

"Clark, you owe her the truth," Oliver said.

"I wanna open up to her more than anything. But why tell Lois who I really am, only to rip it away from her? Wouldn't that hurt her more? I wouldn't do that to her."

"Doesn't mean you can't at least say goodbye," Oliver told him.

Clark didn't answer him, he just nodded. "I'm gonna give Chloe a bit of time, but I'm gonna come back to see her. There's no real way to say good bye to your best friend, you're right, but I'm gonna try because neither of us is gonna feel right if we don't at least try."

Oliver knew Clark was right.

"I've been wanting to say something to you for a little while now," Clark said.

"And what's that?" Oliver asked him.

"I want to tell you that you've been good for her and I can see that you've been good _to_ her, and despite me giving you a bit of a hard time before, I'm happy you guys found each other. I'm happy because you make her smile, you make her laugh. You make her happy- and that's what I want for her. I want her to have everything good, because she deserves it," Clark said, trying not to get emotional in front of Oliver. "Chloe's kind of amazing, you know?... I've always been protective of her, it's just the way it is. I don't really think that I've ever believed that anyone is good enough for her... Not that you need it, but you've got my approval."

"Thanks man," Oliver laughed.

"And Chloe would kill us for having this conversation, but I mean it, Oliver. Take care of her, okay? Make sure nothing happens to her, and keep her happy, okay?" Clark said, turning away from Oliver.

Oliver noticed that Clark's eyes were looking similar to the way Chloe's had looked before. They were shiny.

"I can do that," Oliver told him.

"Good," Clark said, taking a breath. "Okay, I have to make a couple stops, mom and Lois and then I'll be back," he said, before speeding away.

Oliver decided to go look for Chloe, knowing that she wouldn't be far. He knew she hadn't left Watchtower, she wouldn't, not in a situation like the present one. She went to hide to cry and then gather herself so she could be ready and available for any team member who needed her.

Sure enough he found her about 2 minutes later, sitting in a corner with her knees tucked up to her chest, and her head resting on her knees. Oliver just stood where he was for a minute, not knowing if she knew he was there or not.

"Wanna join me?" Chloe asked, finally raising her head and wiping her eyes.

Guess she knew he was there after all.

"Or you could join me, back in a room where we have light and coffee," Oliver said, light-heartedly, offering her his hand.

She took his hand and he pulled her up. "He'll be back in a bit to see you. He won't go without saying goodbye," Oliver told her softly.

Chloe wiped her eyes again, and then smiled at him and nodded.

"You know he really loves you, right?"

"What?" Chloe asked.

"Clark. He loves you a lot. You two are lucky to have had each other, to have had a friendship like this for so long. I never really had that. So just maybe when he comes back to say bye, try to think of the good stuff. Try to think that you guys were really lucky to have had each other. Try not to think that you're not going to see each other anymore... It kinda kills me to see you sad."

"You're sweet," Chloe said, giving him a small hug, wiping her eyes yet again. "But it's time to get our heads back in the game for now. Need to focus," Chloe said, pushing through the sadness she was feeling over Clark. There wasn't any time to be sad. "Come gulp down some coffee with me," she said

"Oh my God. You're going to share your coffee with me? The world must be ending. Oh wait, it actually just might be," Oliver said with a grin and Chloe burst out laughing.

Chloe grabbed the cup and downed nearly half of it in a few gulps.

"We need to get some help for your addiction," Oliver teased. "Coffee should not be drunk that quickly."

"You gonna judge my coffee habits, Queen? I'm not so sure I want to share, then," Chloe teased back.

"No, no, Sullivan. My apologies. No judging here. Now please share."

Chloe handed the cup over to him, and then her mood changed all over again.

"We lost all satellite communication. I can't reach anybody. It's like everyone I sent out there is a sitting duck and Zod's about to call a start to hunting season," she said, starting to get frantic.

"Take a breath, Chloe. We've stared down the barrel of a gun before," Oliver told her, trying to be reassuring.

"We're dealing with like a hundred Clark's here," Chloe continued. "I don't know if I can dodge this speeding bullet," she said, trying to do a bunch of things.

"You're not in it alone. We're a team, right? You got me" Oliver said, wanting to be calming and comforting for her.

Chloe was a woman on a mission, a mission to figure out what the hell they were gonna do.

"Hey," Oliver said, putting his hands on her arms to slow her down for a minute. "Trust me."

"Thank you," she said. _And I do trust you. I really do. _"But I don't think talking me off a ledge is gonna help us solve our technical difficulties," she said, on the move again, grabbing a box.

"Okay, uh- well, then maybe this will," Oliver said, following her. "You know when Tess broke into our little club house here, I had Queen Industries launch an order dedicated to Watchtower," he said, placing something in front of her.

Chloe's heart started to race. _Seriously? This is awesome! _"Wait a minute, we have our own satellite?" she asked, turning to face him.

"Yeah," Oliver said, pleased with himself.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" she asked him.

"Well, it was sort of a gift," he said.

Chloe's heart did some sort of fluttery thing. _He got me a satellite... He got Watchtower a_ _satellite... Nope, he bought it because I was babbling about something like this before._ _Oliver Queen just bought me a satellite. Oliver Queen totally bought me a satellite! _"Uhh, well I guess giving you a sweater for your birthday is sort of out of the question now," Chloe said, fumbling a bit with her words.

_Ha! Chloe Sullivan doesn't know what to say. Nice! _Oliver was pleased. She was struggling with her words, but she was happy and that was always a good thing.

"Well, the satellite's up and running, but the transponders haven't been initiated for downlink yet, so I'm gonna need to flip a couple of switches at the earth station in order to be able to spy from the sky," he said.

"So we should just stay in touch the old fashioned way," Chloe said, heading off to find something. "I mean, if Zod has been trying to destroy satellites from space, he's definitely not going to be happy that you're putting another satellite online," she said, pulling two things out of a drawer. "Do me a favour, okay? Just keep a low profile," she said, coming back to him, and proceeding to hand him a walkie-talkie.

Oliver responded by kissing her and then saying jokingly, "I'm wearing green leather, so I'll do my best." And then he headed for the door.

_This guy is amazing and he's mine for the taking. This guy wants me, for whatever crazy_ _reason, he wants me. And _I _want him. And I want him to know that I want him. I want him to_ _know that I'm ready for him- that I can do this- that I_want _to do this._

She went after him. "Hey," she said grabbing hold of his arm.

"Miss me already, Sidekick?" he asked.

Chloe just laughed."Umm, when you get back, I think we need to talk."

And then Oliver looked worried. She couldn't tell him right now, that would be weird, but she was going to tell him tonight.

"It's- it's nothing bad," she told him. "I just have some stuff that I've got to say. Okay, just forget this for now because I think I'm scaring you," she laughed. "We'll talk when you get back."

"You sure everything's okay, Chloe?" Oliver asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah, honestly. Okay, now get out of here. Shoo," she said.

"Goodness woman, you're bossy," he teased. "I'll be back before you know it."

"Okay," she said.

Oliver left and Chloe was now alone with her thoughts. And all she could think about was Oliver and Clark- the situation with the first making her smile and then with the second making her want to cry again. Thinking of Clark, she was reminded of what Oliver had said- that Clark would be coming by soon so they could see each other one more time. She didn't know how she was going to handle the situation but what she did know is that if she had to lose her best friend she was going to make sure he had something to remember her and the rest of the gang by.

Chloe grabbed one of the photo albums that Oliver had bought her, she picked a small one, something she could slip into Clark's coat pocket and started filling it with pictures. She didn't know what she was going to do when she saw Clark, but she tried to stay calm and cool for now in case Oliver got in touch with her sooner than she thought he would.

Chloe sat down and just gazed at a bunch of photos and got lost in the memories for a little while.

"Houston, we got a problem," Oliver's voice sounded through the walkie-talkie.

Chloe picked hers up and asked, "Are you at the satellite station yet?"

"Yeah, I'm way ahead of you, but I'm a little lost. I need you to be my own personal Map-Quest if you don't mind," Oliver said.

"Alright," Chloe said, taking a seat. "What's your twenty?" she asked, looking down at the building's blueprints.

"I'm inside the air ducts right now and access to the main grid is through one of the routing panels."

"Okay mole man, just think happy thoughts and keep on tunnelling. Let me know when you've reached the T."

"I hate small spaces," Oliver said as he crawled through the air duct. "Okay, completed the first level. I'm at the T."

"Okay, now halfway through the second tunnel on you're left-hand side you're gonna find 3 panels. The one with JJ-910-60 is-"

"The one in the middle, yeah I got it," Oliver said, seeing it. "You gotta admit, I know how to treat a girl on date night," Oliver said jokingly.

"Sure, next week you think maybe we can just grab some Thai food and catch a movie."

"That sounds like a good plan, but for tonight you're just gonna have to settle for streamed satellite video."

"Hey," Chloe said happily. "The link is up. Why don't you make your way home? I'm gonna see if I can access the building's schematics and find you a less cramped return trip... Ah, the station's motion sensors picked you up," Chloe said and then she immediately started to panic. There were blips all around, starting to close in on Oliver.

"Oh no, Ollie you've got visitors. There's a whole swarm of them closing in on you fast. Ollie, you need to get out of there now!"

"Chloe if they find the signal they'll trace me back to you. I gotta go," Oliver said, as he tried to get out of the air ducts.

"No. Ollie, no!"

"Chloe."

"Ollie!"

"I love you," he said.

"I love you."

"Chloe, they're not Kandorian."

And then that was it.

"He just said he loved me. I just said I loved him. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God...Clark's leaving and something's got Ollie. Oh my God," Chloe muttered, starting to hyperventilate. "Have to help Ollie... Where the _hel l_is Clark? Oh my God, he should have been here by now. Did something happen to him too? No Ollie and no Clark. Oh my God, if anything else happens, this friggin' city is done for."

Chloe grabbed her cell phone and headed out of Watchtower, not really knowing what she was even trying to accomplish.

o-o-o-o-o

Clark felt like absolute shit at that very moment. He hadn't got to say goodbye to his mom or Chloe, but he had to go now, use the Book of Rao to get him and all the Kandorians out of there before Zod managed to get away and do who knows what to the city. _Chloe, mom,_ _please know that I love you guys. I'm sorry._

_Why aren't we vanishing? Why are me and Zod still here?_

"Blue kryptonite!" Clark said.

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere."

"You knew blue kryptonite would prevent you from ascending like the others," Clark said.

"Better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven," Zod said, as he stabbed Clark with the Blue Kryptonite weapon.

Clark knew what he was going to do. He was hurt but he didn't care as long as he could get rid of Zod. After fighting with Zod, who was clearly getting the better of Clark, Clark stepped himself into place to get stabbed by the knife Zod was holding and then he let himself fall off the building, taking the blue kryptonite knife with him, what with it being stuck inside of him. The knife was away from Zod, meaning the blue kryptonite was away from Zod, which meant Zod was going bye-bye and would be joining the rest of the Kandorians, away from Earth.

When Clark finally hit the ground, Chloe just happened to be walking by.

"Oh shit!" she screamed. "Clark!" she yelled. "What's wrong? Oh my God, get up. Please!"

Clark didn't move.

Chloe pulled out her phone and dialled Emil and told him to meet her at Watchtower right away and then called Bart and told him to get over to her right away. Chloe tried to keep from crying. Oliver might be dead, Clark looked like he was dead- and OH MY GOD Lois was now standing in front of her looking down at Clark's apparently lifeless body.

"What's wrong, gorgeous?" Bart asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"What the hell is going on here?" Lois asked, scared beyond belief seeing Clark's body. He looked lifeless. "Clark's the Blur, I didn't think he could get hurt like this."

Chloe had to make a split second decision. "Bart, get him to Watchtower, Emil will be there really soon. Then can you come back and get me and Lois, please?"

"Sure thing," Bart said, dashing off with Clark.

"Chloe, baby, what the hell's happening?" Lois asked her cousin who looked on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Lo, we don't have time to talk right now. Listen, I promise you, you'll get explanations, but not right now, okay."

Before Lois could answer her, Bart came back and whisked her away. And then he was back for Chloe in a flash.

"Where the _HELL_is Emil?" Chloe shrieked. She couldn't take this.

"Beautiful, look at me," Bart said. "Chloe, I'm gonna go grab Emil, okay? I'll have him here in a flash?" Bart said softly.

"Okay," Chloe answered barely above a whisper. "Thank you Bart, I'm gonna need you to do something else too, okay? Please, you gotta find Ollie. Something's happened to him. Call A.C. and get whoever you can. Bring him back. I _need_ him back. He was at the earth station, but he got swarmed or something. You need to be careful."

"I got it," Bart said, rushing away.

"Chloe, this is yours?" Lois asked in wonder, looking around Watchtower.

"Lo, please believe me when I say I wish I could have told you all this stuff, all this hero stuff, but those secrets, the team- they weren't my secrets to tell... But those things don't matter now. We gotta somehow fix Clark and we need to get Ollie back... Are you okay?" she asked Lois.

"I dunno, Chlo. I honestly don't know," Lois said, trying not to cry, while looking at Clark.

Chloe sat down next to Clark and only then noticed the knife sticking out of him and pulled it out. "Blue Kryptonite," she muttered. "Clark Kent. Get up. Right now. You can't do this to me and Lo, okay? And your mom."

Chloe took hold of his hand as she cried. "Get up. Get up. Get up! You're stronger than this. You're a hero," she let out as she cried. "Okay, just _no_. Not you and Ollie. Are you guys trying to _kill_ me? And you gotta get up and tell Lo everything cuz she's already figured out stuff, so there's no excuse now to keep her out of it... Please get up," Chloe said, feeling like she was suddenly fading, drifting off.

"Chloe!" Lois yelled just as Emil got dropped off and Bart dashed off again.

Chloe slumped to the ground.

Lois yelled again and ran to her cousin's side as Clark's sat up.

"What the freakin' hell?" Lois yelled, completely freaked out.

Clark looked around, freaked out and confused.

"You!" Lois said to Clark, "were just practically dead and she cried and held your hand and now _she _ looks dead. Somebody tell me what the _hell_ is going on? Someone fix her right now! You're the doctor, right. Do something," she said, turning to Emil.

"Okay, Lois, um please, please, please go sit down for a minute and just try to calm down and tell me exactly what just happened," Clark said. "This is important."

Emil ran to Chloe and checked her out. She didn't have a pulse, but he didn't panic yet.

"Clark, Chloe used to have a healing ability, right?" Emil asked, starting to put some pieces together.

"Yeah, but it's been gone for quite awhile," Clark said, looking down at Chloe, feeling sick.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's back," Lois said. "I don't know anything about this healing thing, but if she can heal others, why isn't she healing?" she asked frantically.

Emil just shook his head, thinking back to when Oliver was at the hospital and when he had removed some of the bandages to find that Oliver's flesh was fine in certain spots. That must have been Chloe.

"She's gonna be fine," Clark said, taking a deep breath of relief. "If her ability is back, she's gonna be fine. It's gonna take awhile, but she's gonna be okay...She healed you before, Lois," Clark said. "She saved your life."

"And was she practically dead whenever this happened?" Lois asked, finding it hard to breathe normally.

Clark nodded.

"So what, are we just supposed to sit here and wait for her to wake up- or _hope _for her to wake up?" Lois asked, pacing back and forth. "And what happened to Oliver? Why was he at the earth station? And that guy, Bart, he was as fast as you. What is this place?" she asked. "And what exactly do you do with these guys?" Lois asked, turning to Emil.

"You should probably take a seat," Clark and Emil said at the same time.

Lois sat down next to Chloe and held her cousin's hand.

"Tell me everything, and start with Chloe," Lois said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.


	19. Chapter 19

o-0-o-0-o Thanks to those who alerted and favourite the story. Thanks to morning1, redqueen11, Raya, , Naleylover23xo, GoChlollie, ica013, Kassie46 for reviewing. Hope you enjoy this new chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

Clark was about to start explaining things to Lois, when something just registered in his head.

"What were you just saying about Oliver?" he asked Lois.

"Chloe was freaking out and told Bart to look for Ollie. Something bad happened. He got swarmed or something. Chloe was really worried. He was at the earth station. Actually, you should go. You _need _to go. You need to help find Oliver, because Chloe's gonna be messed up if he's not okay," Lois said, running her hand through her hair.

Clark was gone before Lois could say another word.

Lois turned to Emil. "It's just you and me and Sleeping Beauty right now, so it's up to you to fill me in. Tell me everything," Lois said, holding tightly on to Chloe's hand. "What is this place exactly?"

"Welcome to Watchtower," Emil said, rubbing his head. "This is our little clubhouse, headquarters I guess. Oliver funds everything, but this place is technically Chloe's. She owns it. Jimmy got this place for her when it was nothing but this big- tall cool-looking place, and she basically turned it into what it is today."

"What does Chloe do? What do you all do? How many are in this little group of yours?" Lois asked, full of questions.

"Chloe's Watchtower-"

"I thought _this _was Watchtower," Lois said, cutting him off.

Emil chuckled a bit. "Yeah, this is Watchtower, but you know those code names you were asking about- well Chloe's is Watchtower. She hacks into other systems for us. Everyone on the team checks in with Chloe. She guides the team through missions. She keeps an eye on everything and everyone on the team during missions and patrols. She guides the missions from here usually, sometimes she does it on-site. Occasionally, she's the clean-up crew when someone from the team gets banged-up, but not bad enough that they need me... And me, I don't really have a code name. I really am pretty much just the doctor, though sometimes I do do some Watchtower type stuff, mostly if Chloe's too busy. I'm the doctor because Oliver needed someone he could trust, considering who he is and then when he started putting the team together he really needed someone he could trust because not all our members are exactly what people would call normal. Hospitals wouldn't really be good for some on the team."

"Wow," Lois said, looking down at Chloe. "Wow."

"I'm assuming you've sort of figured out what Clark can do," Emil said.

Lois nodded.

"Well, he's not the only one who's out protecting the city. Oliver and Jonn are the other regulars who patrol here. When the other team members are in town they'll do patrols here too, otherwise they patrol the areas they're staying in."

Emil explained some more things to Lois and she continued to listen, half of her totally fascinated, the other half still completely worried about Chloe, even though this was supposedly normal.

About an hour and a half had passed before Clark and Bart came back, and when they did, they were joined by a bloodied Oliver, and to Lois's major surprise, A.C, whom she had dated really briefly.

Lois got up and walked over to them.

"Yeah, A.C.'s on the team," Clark said quickly, seeing Lois' shock. "And yes, now Lois knows about the team," Clark said to A.C, who was also surprised to see Lois. "Emil, come look at Oliver."

"I'm fine," Oliver said.

"Tell that to your bloody body," Lois said. "Don't be stubborn, Queen."

"Where's Chloe?" Oliver said, not listening. "Why isn't she here?" Oliver asked, sounding worried.

"She's here," Emil said quietly. "But-"

Oliver spotted Chloe. "What happened?" he asked, immediately going to her side.

Emil cringed and Clark started to try to explain what had happened.

Oliver was standing on shaky legs as it was, after having had the crap beaten out of him for the past hour and a half, but when Chloe didn't respond and when he took her hand in his and could not feel a pulse at her wrist his knees nearly buckled.

"Chloe, get up," Oliver said frantically. "Come on, Sidekick, open your eyes."

"Oliver, she's gonna be okay. But she can't wake up right now," Clark said.

"Her healing ability is back," Emil explained.

"When she heals someone, she sort of takes on what she healed the person of," Clark said.

"Clark was dead, or really close to it and then all of a sudden he was fine. She healed him," Lois told Oliver.

"She's gonna be out for awhile, but she will wake up. I know it's scary because there's no sign of life right now, but she's gonna be fine. It's probably gonna take quite awhile, but she's gonna open her eyes again. I know how this works for her, I've been with her through this. I waited 18 hours with her to wake up and get her pulse back the last time," Clark said.

Oliver just nodded, not taking his eyes off of Chloe.

"Move your ass, Queen. Let's get you cleaned up We don't know how long it's gonna take for her to wake up, and I will not have you looking like that when she opens her eyes, got it? She was freaking out with worry for you, we don't need her to wake up and have a heart attack cuz you look like the walking dead," Lois said as Bart and A.C. chuckled.

"She's _definitely_related to Chloe," Bart commented.

Oliver rolled his eyes, but sent a smile to Lois. "Yes ma'am."

"Chop-chop doc," Lois said to Emil. "You come check what's wrong with Ollie and I'll clean off the blood. What are we waiting for? Is your goal to decorate the floor with his dripping blood, cuz somehow I don't see my cousin as being a big fan of blood decorations on the floor."

Bart, A.C, and Clark all held in their laughter as Lois, Emil and Oliver walked over to the other side of the room.

Clark and Bart went to sit next to Chloe while A.C. called the remaining team members to fill them in on what was going on.

"You really had to wait 18 hours for her to wake up?" Bart asked, and Clark nodded, not liking to remember that time. Even though he knew she was going to wake up- those 18 hours had been hell where he couldn't help but wonder if maybe something went wrong and she couldn't wake up after all.

"I hope it doesn't take that long again," Clark said. "I hate seeing her like this. It scares the hell out of me even though I know how her power works."

"Does it hurt her?" Bart asked.

"She didn't like to talk about it too much," Clark said.

"Come on, Tower," Bart said, rubbing Chloe's hand. "We want your eyes open again sooner rather than later."

"She's been protecting me for a long time. She's put her life on the line for me many times... I hate that I'm the reason she's lying there like that. I know she's gonna get up, but it's killing me to see her like this- and it's my fault. She healed me and now she's lying here lifeless," Clark said to Bart, shaking his head.

Watchtower was a very quiet place for the next 20 minutes. A.C. joined Clark and Bart beside Chloe, and the 3 men just watched their friend intently, as if them staring was going to get her to wake up sooner.

Soon after, Lois, Emil and Oliver came back over to the rest of the group.

"What's the verdict, you gonna live Bossman?" Bart asked with a grin.

"I said I was fine before," Oliver told him.

"Nothing's broken, but you're not fine. You go the crap kicked out of you," Emil said.

"That's typically what happens when it's eleven against one," Oliver said sarcastically.

"Okay, now would be a good time for everyone to explain everything that happened tonight. Clark, Ollie- start talking," Lois said.

Bart and A.C moved to the side so that Oliver and Lois could come sit by Chloe.

Oliver held Chloe's hand as Clark started to talk and Lois fought to keep from smiling like an idiot. She was _so _happy that Chloe and Oliver found each other, and she had a feeling that when Chloe got up there was going to be a change in Chloe and Oliver's relationship status- as in Chloe was finally going to admit that she was in a committed one and that that is what she wanted.

"So Zod and the others, they're really gone?" Emil asked.

"Yeah," Clark said, nodding.

"Now _you, _what were you doing at the earth station and who grabbed you?" Lois asked, looking at Oliver.

"I had to go there to get the satellite up and running. Chloe was guiding me through the vents, we got the satellite up and working and then Chloe picked something up. She warned me I had company. I got swarmed. I don't know who they are, but they knew me, and _way _more importantly than that, they know who Chloe is, and they know that she's Watchtower. And they said a couple times 'We know what she can do.' Whoever the hell they were, they wanted Chloe... Stupid bastards thought I was gonna tell them where Chloe was."

"People are after my cousin?" Lois asked, voice changing, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Apparently," Oliver sighed. "Don't worry about it, though, cuz I'm not letting then _anywhere_ near her."

"Nothing's gonna happen to Chloe. We won't let it," Clark said to Lois.

"Don't worry about it, Lois," A.C. said. "We all adore her, we'll keep an eye on her."

"Nothing's gonna happen to 'Licious. We've got her back," Bart assured.

"You're damn right nothing's gonna happen, because of something does, I promise all of you a whole lot of hell from me," Lois said seriously, getting up and walking away from the guys.

Clark sighed and got up to follow Lois.

"It sounds like they know about her healing ability too," Emil said to Oliver.

"Who would know about her ability outside of the people here?" Bart asked Emil, A.C. and Oliver as he saw Clark hugging Lois, trying to calm her down.

"Lex and Lionel have been screwing with Chloe since she was a teenager," Oliver said. "She's been kidnapped and had tests done on her. I'm pretty sure those two knew, or had some sort of idea."

"They're dead, though," A.C. pointed out.

"Maybe someone who worked for them at one point branched off and is doing their own crazy thing now," Bart said, shrugging.

Lois and Clark came back over to the rest of the group and Lois sat down next to Oliver. "Sorry," she told him, giving him a little nudge.

"Don't be sorry," Oliver said with a chuckle. "She's your family. I get it."

Lois placed a quick kiss on Oliver's cheek. "Kinda love you, Queen. Speaking of family, when are you gonna be joining mine?" Lois asked with a smirk.

A.C., Clark and Emil chuckled as Lois tried to lighten the mood.

"You don't want Bossman joining your family, Pretty," Bart said. "I'd be a much better in-law, and your cousin's supposed to be with me anyway," Bart said with a grin.

"You're adorable," Lois said.

"Bart's had a thing for Chloe since high-school," Clark said, shaking his head in amusement.

"You clearly have very good taste in women," Lois said, smiling at Bart.

"I totally do, but I have crap-timing apparently," Bart said, putting his hands up. "Your cousin, unfortunately for me, fell for Tall-Blond-And Green," Bart said, trying to look sad.

"I like you," Lois said, laughing. "I bet Chloe adores you."

"Impulse is totally Chloe's favourite on the team," A.C. said, laughing.

"It's true," Oliver said, grinning, thinking about different team occasions. "Chloe's with me, and Clark's her best friend, but Bart's totally her favourite guy on the team. She always forgives him first when she's mad at us."

"That's probably cuz he's better at apologizing and admitting he made a mistake. You and Clark, and A.C. from what I remember can be stubborn like a bunch of mules," Lois said, amused, still feeling crazy amounts of worry for her cousin, but also feeling very happy in the environment- Chloe had a good group around her and Lois was happy about that.

"Lois makes a good point," Emil said, agreeing.

Clark's phone rang at the same Bart's did.

"Victor," Clark said.

"Dinah," Bart said.

A.C. had told both of them what happened and they wanted to be there with the rest of the team.

"We'll be back really soon," Clark said. "Victor wants to be here with us and so does Dinah. I'm going to get Victor."

"I"m gonna get Dinah," Bart said, and then both he and Clark dashed off.

"Jonn said he'll be by soon, too," A.C. added.

"This really is a team, isn't it?" Lois said with a smile.

Oliver nodded. "It really is."

Lois still had a lot of questions, and Emil, Oliver and A.C spent the next little while giving her answers.

Emil's phone rang first, it was a doctor from the hospital. He got up and moved away so he could take the call.

The other three remained talking.

Lois's phone rang next. It was her sister. Lois groaned before getting up to go take the call from her sister. "Please don't be in jail," she muttered.

A.C. asked Oliver if he had any idea at all who the guys were that swarmed him before his phone also rang. It was John.

"I'll be back in a second," A.C. said, getting up to go talk to John.

"Clark said this lasted 18 hours the last time. I'm really, really hoping you open your eyes a lot sooner than that cuz I'm kinda going a little crazy, Professor," Oliver said, rubbing Chloe's hand.

About a minute went by and then Oliver jumped back a little bit.

Chloe shot straight up, clutching her chest, heart beating a million times a minute. "My power's back, what the hell?" she gasped.

And then she saw Oliver. She got up and grabbed him. "You're okay," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank God you're okay," she said, pulling him down for a kiss.

Relief flooded through Oliver's body and he pulled Chloe as close to him as was possible.

"I need to tell you something right now, before I have time to do something stupid and talk myself out of it," Chloe said, pulling away slightly, but only so she could look at him while she spoke.

Chloe hadn't registered that there was anyone else in the room. Neither Chloe or Oliver noticed that Clark and Bart were back with Victor and Dinah.

"First of all, _yes _I meant it when I said that I love you too- so there that is. It's not the easiest thing for me to say- so if I don't say it a lot in the future, just remember that I do. Second, I've been doing this idiot thing for a long time avoiding at all costs defining what the hell this thing between us is. This was never really 'no strings attached' even though that's what I tried to make it before. But I want the strings now. I can do strings, and you've been amazing for putting up with my messed-up-ness for so long. I'm in Ollie, okay? I'm in this. I want this with you. I really do," Chloe blurted out.

Oliver pulled her back to him and kissed her long and hard. "It's about time, Sullivan," he said with a grin after a moment.

Chloe finally noticed that they weren't alone. The first person she saw was Clark, who had a big smile on his face. Chloe immediately headed for Clark with her arms out. He met her half way and enveloped her in a big hug.

"Saved me again, Chloe," Clark whispered.

"And I'll continue to do it as long as I'm breathing," she whispered back.

Lois was the next person she saw and Chloe grabbed her cousin and hugged her tight. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't tell you about this before. I'm _so _happy that you know now."

Bart was next. "I knew I could count on you. You never let me down. You brought him back just like I asked. Thank you," Chloe said as she gave the speedster a big hug.

Jonn arrived a short while later and looked extrememly relieved to see Chloe up and about.

Lots of hugs and chatter were exchanged and there was relief in the air. Lois and Dinah weren't exactly best buddies, but they was just so happy that everyone was okay, at least for right now, that that didn't matter at all.

When Chloe's phone rang, she was surprised to see who was calling.

"Tess?" Chloe said, answering the phone.

"Watch your back, Chloe. There's people after you. Be careful," Tess said, and then she quickly hung up.

"What was that?" Oliver asked.

"That was Tess. She warned me to be careful. She said there's people after me," Chloe told him.

"Yeah, about that-" Oliver started to speak but Chloe cut him off.

"What?" she asked. "Wait, you know about that?"

"The guys who grabbed me wanted you. They know who you are. They know that you're Watchtower and I'm pretty sure that they know you're a healer," Oliver told her.

"We need more security then," Chloe said.

"Yeah, we'll make sure someone's with you at all times," Oliver said.

"Excuse me. What the hell are you talking about?" Chloe asked.

"You need security," Oliver said. "There's people after you."

"I've had people after me before and I'm still here. What I'm concerned about is that they know about Watchtower. We need more security for this place and we'll have to play around with our communications systems a little bit more. They probably don't really know anything except that there _is_ such a thing as Watchtower and that I have a whole lot of hero info. I guarantee you that they don't know what that info really is. If they somehow accessed something it would have been when Tess broke in here that night, but even then, the only thing they could have known was the barest minimum- our code names. All the other info, I guarantee they didn't get... So everything's okay, we just need to be a bit more careful."

"Can you talk some sense into your cousin please?" Oliver said to Lois.

"Baby, there are people after you who might want to kill you, torture you or experiment on you, or maybe all three. This is a problem. No one here wants any of those things to happen to you, therefore your boyfriend's right. You should have someone with you when you're out."

"Like you'd agree to that for yourself if the situations were reversed," Chloe said, eyebrow raised.

"That's besides the point," Lois said.

Chloe rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to be babysat, thank you all very much," Chloe said, walking away from the group.

"Chloe, don't be like that," Clark said. "They didn't know where you were tonight but those people know your face, it's not gonna be hard to find you if they really want to. You're in danger and we're gonna make sure nothing happens to you. You always look out for everyone here. It's time you let us do the same for you."

"Since you care more about the team and Watchtower than you do yourself, let me put it to you this way. If something happens to you, you're gonna mess this whole arrangement up, and I know you don't want that," Oliver said.

Chloe didn't answer him.

"Don't be mad at me," Oliver said.

"I'm not mad at you, I'm just annoyed. I adore all of you, but I'm the kind of person who needs some time to herself each day, so forgive me if I'm having a hard time adjusting to the idea that I'm practically _never _gonna be alone for the foreseeable future because no one wants to listen to me when I say that I don't need a bunch of babysitters."

"Everyone knows I don't want anything to happen to Chloe, but you have to let the woman breathe," Bart said. "We can set her up with a one-click emergency button to use if she needs help. You can't go from only ever watching over everyone else to constantly being watched over yourself. Give her a break. If she needs help we can be there in a flash."

Chloe smiled at Bart. 'Thank you,' she mouthed to him.

"I think this constant bodyguard thing would actually create more problems, not to mention that she'll start to resent us for it. I mean if people are really after her and are watching her, and they're trying to get more info on Watchtower and everyone's identities, it's gonna be suspicious if Chloe starts popping up everywhere with someone different everyday. I'm sure they'd start to put two and two together and figure out who's on the team," Dinah added.

Chloe gave her a smile.

Oliver did not look happy. "Fine," he finally said. "But we're setting you up for this emergency button/call thing right away."

"I think it's time for all of us to leave," Jonn said, eyeing everyone except for Chloe and Oliver.

Everyone left pretty quickly, seeing that Chloe and Oliver needed some time alone.

"Are you mad at me?" Chloe asked.

"I'm not mad at you, I'm just annoyed," Oliver said sitting down on the couch next to her, using Chloe's own words.

Chloe couldn't help but chuckle.

"I don't do the whole damsel-in-distress thing very well. You know it means a lot to me that you care so much and that you're worried about me, but it's gonna be fine. Nothing's gonna happen to me," Chloe said, putting her head on his shoulder.

"I can agree with you on that," Oliver said, picking up her hand and kissing it. "I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to you. I've got you now, and I have no intentions of letting anyone take you away from me."


	20. Chapter 20

o-0-o-0-o Thanks for alerting and favouriting. And thanks a lot to Naleylover23xo, redqueen11, Raya, morning1, , Kassie46, GoChlollie, blue red wing, ica013 and jj for reviewing. Here's the new chapter. I hope that you'll enjoy it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

"Stop looking at me like that," Chloe said, sighing.

"You're turned around, you can't even see me," Oliver said.

"I can _feel _the look you're giving me, Ollie," Chloe said tiredly.

"You promised me you'd wear the damn help-link-thing," Oliver said, coming to stand in front of her.

"I know you're not going to believe me, but I really did just forget. Don't freak out. I'm fine, see? And next time I promise I'll have it, okay? It's just weird and I have to get used to it."

"Okay," Oliver said. "I just need to know that you understand that there's danger around you, and it's not a joke."

"I still think that you're all seriously overreacting and underestimating me, but I know it's not a joke and I don't want any of you to worry. I really don't," Chloe said, covering up a yawn.

"Someone's tired," Oliver said with a small smile, knowing that Chloe meant it when she said she just forgot and that she didn't want anyone to worry.

"If 'someone' is me, then you're absolutely correct. I'm so tired. It was fun shopping with Selena for baby stuff because she's like the cutest mommy-to-be I've ever seen in my life, but wow, Ollie the baby store is so _big _and there's _so _much stuff. I feel like I was just on some epic journey."

"Chloe and the 'Epic Journey to the Baby Store' sounds like a good book or movie title," Oliver teased.

Chloe gave him a lazy grin and rolled her eyes. "Did you have fun today?"

"Oh yeah, tons," Oliver said sarcastically. "Meeting after meeting with idiot after idiot."

Chloe chuckled. "Oh poor baby- the hardships of owning a multi-billion-dollar corporation."

It was Oliver's turn to roll his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Chloe asked more seriously, lifting up the side of Oliver's shirt. "The bruises are still bad."

"I feel fine, Sidekick. Don't worry about it."

"I think you're a liar. You should let me heal that for you," Chloe told him.

"Absolutely not. I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but I _hated _ watching you be nearly dead. I have no intention of seeing that again. You're not healing me."

"Healing this wouldn't take me out like what happened the other day," Chloe said. "Clark, for all intents and purposes was dead. I healed him, so I basically took that on to myself, and then my body healed from it. All that would happen here is that I'd take the bruises away- I'd stay perfectly conscious."

"Still saying no," Oliver said.

"Why? If you feel fine, this won't even hurt a bit," Chloe said.

"I may have lied a little bit. My ribs are kinda sore as hell, Professor. I'm not gonna pass that along to you, even if it's just for a minute or two."

"You're sweet, but very, very stubborn," Chloe said, shaking her head.

"We're a matching pair, then," Oliver said, smirking.

"Don't get mad, okay?" Chloe said, biting her lip, pulling Oliver down onto the couch to sit next to her.

Oliver cringed. "What?" he said reluctantly.

Chloe laughed. "Nothing happened. I'm just thinking something, and it might piss you off- I don't know."

"What's going on in your head?"

"Okay, I'm just gonna get straight to the point. Are you sure you killed Lex? Are you sure he's dead?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Oliver said, surprised. "They found his remains or DNA right?"

"Yeah, that's what the reports said," Chloe said, rubbing her eyes.

"Why are you asking?" Oliver asked worriedly.

"I've been thinking about who could be after me since Tess called and you told me, and I can't shake the feeling that this has the Luthor name all over it. I don't know how I know, but I'm telling you, I feel it in my bones, it's not Checkmate that's after me. I feel like this is Lex, and I know it sounds crazy cuz he's supposed to be dead and gone, but I can't get rid of this feeling."

"I don't know what to tell you, Chloe. I didn't intend for Lex to survive, and he _was _pronounced dead. You don't need to be worrying about him, Sidekick," Oliver said, rubbing Chloe's hand. "Maybe you're just thinking about Lex cuz you'd rather deal with him than Checkmate," Oliver suggested.

Chloe actually laughed at that.

"Why's that funny?" Oliver asked as Chloe grabbed a pillow.

Chloe put the pillow in Oliver's lap, lay down and rested her head. "I'd rather deal with Checkmate any day over Lex."

"Well, it's a good thing Lex is dead then," Oliver said, running his fingers through Chloe's hair. "You don't have to worry about him, Chloe, or Checkmate for that matter. You don't need to worry about anything. Everything's gonna be fine, we just need you to be alert and careful. Nothing's gonna happen to you."

"I'm not scared, Ollie," Chloe said, unable to stifle a yawn.

"I never said you were, Sullivan."

"Do you have anything you need to do right now?" Chloe asked.

"Nope, just hanging out with you, Sidekick." Oliver told her.

"Good," Chloe said, letting her eyes close. "I hope you don't need to get up or anything, cuz I have no intention of moving right now. I'm just gonna close my eyes for awhile, okay?"

Oliver chuckled. "I'm fine here, Chloe. Go ahead and close your eyes."

Chloe didn't answer. She was already asleep.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Lois was sitting across from Clark, about to take a bite out of her hamburger, but then she realized something.

"I knew it. I called it from awhile back. I said she was either sleeping with her boss or co-worker."

"Who?" Clark asked.

"Your best friend, a.k.a my cousin Chloe," Lois said.

Clark rolled his eyes. "Change the topic. We're not talking about this. I don't need images in my head."

Lois looked at her boyfriend and laughed.

"It's not funny. I don't want to talk about who my best friend's sleeping with," Clark said. "Are you trying to traumatize me?"

"I'm not trying, but it's just so easy," Lois teased.

"You're mean," Clark said, unable to keep from smiling.

"I'm sweet as pie," she countered.

Clark snorted. "Yeah, when you want to be."

"So technically, what is Ollie? Is he her boss?"

Clark let out a laugh. "I guess if you want to be technical, then yes. But in reality, Chloe doesn't really have a boss, it's actually more like she's everyone else's boss. No one tells her what to do."

"Cool," Lois said, grinning.

Clark just laughed. "Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be in your head for just five minutes, and see how things remind you of other things, like how out of nowhere Chloe's employment position popped in your head."

"I think you'd get exhausted very quick. Thoughts run through my head pretty much at the same pace as I speak when I'm doing my crazy rambling. And how I get reminded of something usually has nothing to do with the actual thought. I think my head would be a scary place for you, Smallville."

"Probably," Clark chuckled. "But definitely an interesting one."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"What time is it?" Chloe asked, opening her eyes.

"9:00,"Oliver told her.

Chloe sat up. "Order in or go out?" Chloe asked him.

"Huh?"

"I bet you didn't eat anything all day, and then I went ahead and fell asleep on you. You're probably starving. You want to order in or go out?"

"I could use some air," Oliver said.

"Alright, out it is." Chloe said, getting up. "Let's go, hero."

Oliver got up and gave her a grin.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't even know," Oliver said, still grinning. "You just make me smile," Oliver said, leaning down to capture her lips with his.

Chloe bit her lip and smiled when the kiss was over. "Ditto."

"Where are we heading, Sidekick?" Oliver asked.

"What are you in the mood for?"

"Whatever you want," he told her.

"Even if it's a little dive practically in the middle of nowhere?" Chloe asked, remembering a specific place with food she had loved.

"Whatever you want," Oliver said again.

"Okay, we're going to Westin," Chloe said happily.

"When did you go to Westin?" Oliver asked, as they walked out and he locked the door behind him.

"Last year," Chloe said quietly. "You know what, forget Westin," she said suddenly. "We can get perfectly good food five minutes from here."

"Last year, as in Davis?" Oliver asked carefully.

Chloe nodded reluctantly.

"We can go if you want, it's not a big deal," Oliver said.

"No," Chloe said. "The food was great, but the association of that place is with what happened before. I don't want to be stuck in the past. That time's over now... What do you say to Italian? There's a new place not far from here."

"Italian's good. I always love some fettuccini," Oliver told her.

"Apparently the fettuccini is awesome there."

"You mean you can't _verify _ that?" Oliver teased. "There's a food place in this city that you haven't been to yet?"

Chloe elbowed him playfully.

Chloe and Oliver were seated and being served within 25 minutes of leaving Oliver's place.

"This place gets an A so far for service," Oliver said to Chloe.

"I know, we hardly had to wait at all. This is totally my kind of place."

"Are you good right now?" Oliver asked, grinning.

"What?" Chloe asked. "Oh, you mean about being out here with you? You're still far too entertained by this. Yes, I'm good. I'm fine, Queen. I don't wanna end up on the news, but I'm not gonna have a nervous breakdown if we get caught together. I would like this just to remain you and me, though."

"I think we'll be interruption free."

"Good," Chloe said, taking a sip of her drink.

The server brought them their food and Chloe gave the restaurant her seal of approval.

"Ollie, _this _is now our Italian place. This is so delicious," Chloe said, savouring the taste of her food.

"This is hands down the best fettuccini I've ever had," Oliver told her. "This is definitely gonna be our Italian place from now on."

Chloe and Oliver made their way through their dinners and then Chloe's phone beeped. She had a text message from Lois. 'You have mail from Smallville High.'

"That's weird," Chloe said.

"What's weird?" Oliver asked.

"Apparently I have mail from Smallville High," Chloe said, dialling Lois.

"What's up cuz?" Lois said, answering her phone.

"Open up the letter. Tell me what it says, please."

"Ooooooh, Chloe, this is gonna be fun," Lois said, reading over the letter.

"What's it say Lo?"

"Oh yeah, sorry," Lois said. "The school's apparently having a class reunion Chlo. Everyone from your graduating year is invited. This is awesome."

"Smallville High reunion, huh?" Chloe said with a chuckle. "Could be fun, potentially. It could also suck."

"High school reunion?" Oliver asked. "You so have to go, and you totally have to take me with you," Oliver said grinning.

Lois was laughing on the other end of the line at Oliver's enthusiasm. She heard him through the phone. "Chloe, you totally have to go and bring Oliver with you. I'd love to see the look on Marcie MacMillan and Nina Shane's faces."

Chloe grinned. "Are you suggesting that I use Ollie as arm-candy and make those snooty bitches jealous?"

"That is exactly what I'm suggesting," Lois said with a smirk.

"I'm not opposed top being arm-candy," Oliver said, and Chloe laughed.

"I'll see you later, Lo," Chloe said.

"Bye cuz," Lois said, hanging up.

"So when is this thing?" Oliver asked.

"I'm not sure. Lois didn't say, but I'm guessing September. You _actually _wanna go?"

"Yeah," Oliver said. "I wanna go. I wanna see this place for myself. I've heard you and Clark tell so many stories about the crazy place."

"Okay," Chloe said, smiling a bit. "But I reserve the right to change my mind at the last minute."

"Aww, no fair."

"Not change my mind about you coming with me, but just change my mind about going at all. I loved that place, but sometimes thinking back just brings out the insecure teenager that's still buried somewhere inside me," Chloe said, laughing a bit.

"Fair enough," Oliver said. "But just so you know, you shouldn't be insecure about _anything_."

"That's nice to say," Chloe told him with a smile. "But I can't help it."

Oliver shook his head and then turned his attention to four men outside of the restaurant on the other side of the street.

"What is it?" Chloe asked.

"Those four guys have been standing there a little too long for my liking," Oliver said, not taking his eyes off the four men across the street. "And they're still looking here."

Chloe turned her attention to the men that Oliver was staring at. The men really were staring right back.

Oliver got up.

"What are you doing, Ollie?" Chloe said, pulling out her phone, sensing that Oliver was potentially going to do something stupid.

And sure enough he headed for the door.

Chloe pushed Clark's speed-dial number and he quickly picked up.

"Can you get to 410 Rosebella right away. Nothing's happened yet, but I've got a bad feeling," Chloe said quickly.

"I'll be right there," Clark said.

Chloe threw some money onto the table and followed Oliver outside.

"Is there a problem?" Chloe heard Oliver say.

"Not at all," the men across the street said to Oliver. "We just wanted to say hello to Miss Sullivan."

"I don't know you," Chloe said.

"You will soon. We'll be spending a lot of time together, lovely. You'll get to know us _real _well," the largest of the four men said.

Oliver started making his way across the street.

"Oliver, stop it," Chloe yelled.

Clark arrived and looked back and forth from Chloe to Oliver, confused.

"What's the problem?" Clark asked, unable to see what was wrong. There was no one around.

The four men were gone in the blink of an eye.

"That's just fucking lovely," Oliver muttered. "Chloe's stalkers are either teleporters, inhumanly fast like you, or can turn invisible."

"What?" Clark asked. "The people after Chloe were just here?"

"They weren't the guys from the other day, but I'd say they're definitely after Chloe. Bunch of bastards."

"Are you okay?" Clark asked Chloe.

Chloe nodded. "I'm fine. Everything's fine," she said with an uneasy feeling.

"Everything is _not _fine," Oliver said seriously. "I'm calling Victor to access the cameras around here. I want clear shots of these guys' faces and I want everyone on the team and Lois to see them and be on alert."

"Call Victor to do it," Clark said to Oliver. "I'm gonna get her out of here for now."

Oliver nodded.

"Do I have a say in anything right now?" Chloe asked, very annoyed.

"Not really," Oliver said.

Clark grabbed Chloe and dashed off with her.


	21. Chapter 21

o-0-o-0-o It's been awhile since I updated, but I've had a lot of stuff going on in my life and I also lost the chapter, and had to re-write it- my apologies. Thanks to Raya, GoChlollie, Kassie46, ica013, Naleylover23xo, and morning1 for reviewing the last chapter. Here's chapter 21. Hope you'll enjoy it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

"Please tell me that you're gonna stop moving very soon Clark," Chloe mumbled. "I think I'm going to throw my dinner up all over you if you don't stop."

"I really hope that doesn't happen, but there's a goal to all this dashing around," Clark told her as he continued moving faster than light.

"And what is that goal?" Chloe asked.

"If somehow one of those guys saw us, I want to confuse them so they don't know where you are," Clark told her.

"I'm sure if they saw us or tried to follow us we've lost them by now. Clark, pick a destination so we can stop, please," Chloe said.

After another two minutes of constant moving, there was finally stillness. Chloe and Clark had stopped.

"Thank God," Chloe said, when her feet met solid ground. "Where are we, Clark?" Chloe asked, confused.

She hadn't been here before.

"This is Jonn's place. I think this is a good place to keep you for awhile. I don't think anyone would find you here."

Clark's phone rang. It was Oliver.

"I guess I can hang here for an hour or two until we regroup," Chloe said, taking a seat on the sofa, watching Clark.

"We can all meet up here, that way we don't need to bring Chloe back out tonight. It's best if she just stays unseen," Clark said to Oliver. "And this way we can all keep an eye on her."

"I'm right here," Chloe snapped.

Clark hung up and turned to Chloe.

"Just go meet him wherever. I'll wait here like a good little prisoner," Chloe said, taking a deep breath. "I don't want everyone here watching me... People are after me, I get it, but I don't want to be treated like a child. I don't need to be babysat. I promise I'll stay here, just go."

"I'm staying here. They can come here. I'm not leaving you alone," Clark told her.

"They're not gonna find me, and seriously, I won't leave. I don't actually want you guys to worry."

"One- we don't know if they'll be able to find you or not, so there's no way in hell I'm leaving you here alone. I'm not taking any chances of something happening to you. Two- if we look at last year, we can see that you _do _leave, and that sometimes you don't really care what your actions can do to other people," Clark said, sitting down on the couch too, not realizing what he just let slip out.

"_Excuse _me," Chloe said. "You wanna clarify that last statement for me, Clark?" Chloe said angrily.

"Wow. Sorry," Clark said, shaking his head.

"No, say what you want to say. Say it," Chloe demanded.

"Never mind, Chloe," Clark said. "Forget I said that."

"Say what you wanna say Clark, let's get this crap out in the open. It's about time," Chloe said, not letting this go.

"Fine," Clark said, his own temper rising too. "You left with Davis last year, remember?"

"Of course I remember. I'm not likely to ever forget it," Chloe said, her hands clenched into fists.

"I had a solution to everything, Chloe! I would have been safe. I could have gotten rid of Davis without even killing him. You never had to leave! But you went with him anyway. You left with him and it hurt, Chloe, it really did. You fell for him, didn't you? You let me down. I had the perfect solution, but you left. You're my best friend and you left me. You left me behind for him. You left me missing you and afraid for you. You believed you'd be okay, but I thought you were in danger. I was scared for you. I was _so _worried."

"I didn't leave you behind _for_ him!" Chloe shouted. "You really don't get that I left for you? I left with him for you. I left with him to keep you safe!"

"But you didn't _need _to keep me safe!" Clark shouted back. "I had a way to get rid of him."

"I _ know _you, Clark. With a little bit of time, that would have started to eat away at you, and you know it. With some time you would have made yourself miserable over sending him to the Phantom Zone, and I never would want that for you, so of course I had to leave with him. You want me to say it, fine, yeah, I fell for Davis- but nothing I ever did was for him first, _nothing!_ It was always about loyalty to you first. I _never _chose him over you- not one time. And if I could have killed him to make sure nothing would have happened to you, I would have! I'm protective of you, okay? Do you know how important you are? I hate the thought that you could be in danger and my instinct is to make sure nothing happens to you, but I'm also protective of your damn emotions. I didn't want you to hate yourself over sending Davis to the Phantom Zone! But let's talk about _leaving _some more. You left _me!_ Jimmy was dead and you left me. Everyone was gone, Lois was missing and you left me. I was already close to dying inside Clark, and then you left. _How _ could you do that to me? You're my best friend and you left me alone to rot in misery and sadness. I _needed _you, and you let _me_ down. I know that you were dealing with your own feelings too, but I needed you _so _much. I was drowning, Clark, and you just left me. And when you came back, you just stopped trusting me. Clark, you pushed me to the side- after _everything _we've been through, you pushed me to the side and you forgot who I was, you forgot who _we _were. I was hurt more than I'd ever felt in my life. And yeah, I became bitter. Yeah, I became angry. Yeah, I screwed up when I did all that spying on everyone crap. I was messed up, okay? I know that's not an excuse, and I'm _sorry _ for it, I really am. But guess what Clark, even when I was doing questionable things, there was no reason not to trust me, because I'd never betray you. I'd never do anything to intentionally put you at risk. If it would keep you safe, I'd die for you. _Why_ did you forget that?" Chloe said, wiping at her eyes, which had started to water.

"I'm sorry that I left, and seriously, I'm sorry that I hurt you, but I couldn't stay. Not after everything that happened. I was so disappointed with the both of us. I blamed a lot of Jimmy's death on myself. And later when I came back, I think I did maybe stop trusting you for a little while, you were different, but I wasn't trying to hurt you. And I know you don't believe it, but I really did think I was doing the best thing by not telling you too many things. I didn't want to burden you... You had lied about Davis. There was some mistrust, but I really did think keeping you at a distance was better for you, somehow that you'd be safer. I have _never _and will never want you to hurt, in _any _ way. The same thing goes for me with you, Chloe- I'd die to keep you safe. You're my best friend."

Chloe and Clark both took deep breaths and stared at each other for a moment, silent.

Chloe wiped her eyes again.

"Open up!"

That was Bart's voice.

Chloe raced to the door, but Clark being Clark got there first.

Bart pushed into Jonn's apartment, but he wasn't alone. He was holding Lois.

Chloe's heart immediately sunk.

"What happened?" Clark asked frantically, taking Lois from Bart.

"No clue, man," Bart said.

"Put her down," Chloe said. "Put her on the couch," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

Lois was covered in blood. Her eyes were closed. She wasn't breathing. This was all too familiar. Chloe was panicking but she tried to calm herself down. She could fix this. She could save Lois. She _would_save Lois, because there was no way in hell her cousin was going to die.

Clark put Lois down and Chloe went over to the couch.

"I need you to move, Clark," Chloe said, her hands shaking.

She had saved Clark- her healing powers had come back, but Chloe was so fearful right now that maybe they had gone away again. She couldn't even bear to think about that right now. Chloe could not lose Lois, and if her powers had gone away again, she already did.

Tears made their way down Chloe's face again. She grabbed her cousin's hand with one hand and put her other hand over Lois' heart. Chloe squeezed Lois' hand and prayed for everything to work out.

And then Chloe smiled. She felt it. It was working, and then she slumped to the ground while her cousin sat up.

Lois' breathing was heavy as she looked down at Chloe. She immediately put two and two together.

"Oh baby," she whispered. "Thank you. Now hurry up and get better so you can wake up."

Clark picked Chloe up and put her on the couch.

"Glad you're okay, Pretty. I'll be back soon. I'm gonna go grab Bossman and bring him back here, then Clark you and me will split duty up for grabbing everyone else," Bart said, speeding away.

Clark went to Lois and grabbed her in a hug.

The door opened again. Bart had brought Oliver.

"Let's go Kent," Bart said, dashing off again, Clark quickly following.

"You okay, Lane?" Oliver asked Lois, as he walked over to Chloe, cringing as he saw her looking lifeless. . "Bart said something happened to you."

"I got killed, or very close to it," Lois said, taking a deep breath, running her hand through her hair.

Oliver shook his head furiously. "What happened?" he asked her, squeezing her hand in a friendly gesture.

"One minute I was walking, completely alone, and then the next there were four guys in my face, and well 4 against 1 didn't go so well for me," Lois said, trying to laugh. "They wanted to send a message to Chloe. They said that they'll have her soon, and if they don't they're just going to go after the people they know she cares about."

"They're not getting her," Oliver said through clenched teeth. "They're not getting anyone."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lana pulled out her cell phone from her pocket and silently cursed for forgetting to put the volume ringer on. She had missed 2 phone calls and a text message. The text message was from Chloe. It read 'Call me when you have some time. There's some stuff going on and I need to know what you think. I don't think L.L. is dead.'

Lana didn't bother to start composing a reply, she hopped in her car and headed off to see Chloe. This sounded like some _very _serious stuff.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Between Bart and Clark and a whole lot of running from city to city, the whole team was now gathered at Jonn's place. Victor had gotten into the camera feed from outside the restaurant Chloe and Oliver had been at and everyone had seen the 4 creepy men and now knew what they looked like. Lois was already familiar with them after her attack.

Everyone was discussing what needed to be done now. There wasn't very much solid agreement now except that everyone agreed that Chloe was in major danger.

An hour-and-a-half had passed and everyone had taken a turn sitting next to the unconscious Chloe. Lois was currently telling everyone what the 4 men had said to her about them going after Chloe's loved ones until they got Chloe herself.

Chloe awoke, shooting up on the couch, hearing what Lois was saying.

"They're not getting any of you guys," Chloe choked out, trying to catch her breath, slamming her fist into the couch. Her heart was beating fast. Chloe stood up and started to pace.

"Take it easy, Professor," Oliver said gently, pulling her into a hug. "Everything's gonna be fine."

"I can't take it easy, Ollie! It's different if they're after me, but now they're gonna go after all of you. They went after Lois! Those dirty little bastards killed her! What if Bart hadn't found her in time to get her to me, huh? She'd _really _be dead," Chloe said, shrugging out of the embrace, trying not to cry. "I want _them _dead."

Lois went over to Chloe and pulled her into the corner, the others could still see and hear them, though.

"Thanks for the save, babe," Lois said, hugging her cousin.

"Anytime," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

"You saved my ass, I'm fine. I'm standing here with you right now. You feel me here, I'm right here," Lois said quietly, squeezing Chloe a little tighter in the hug to emphasize her point. "Nothing's gonna happen to me again. Nobody gets the drop on me twice, honey."

Chloe let out a shaky laugh, and leaned her head against her cousin for a moment.

"You don't need to worry about me, Chlo," Lois said. "I'm the big cousin here, remember. I do the worrying. I'm the one who looks out for _you_. I promised I always would."

Chloe rolled her eyes at Lois and elbowed her gently. "It's not your duty to take care of me. It never was," Chloe said, biting her lip and giving her cousin a smile.

"It _was _and it still is," Lois said.

"You were a kid too, Lo. You didn't have to look out for me like you did. And we're all adults now- you don't need to worry so much, but thank you."

"We're both hypocrites," Lois said, shaking her head and laughing. 'Don't worry about me, but I get to worry about you.'

Chloe laughed too.

Chloe's phone rang and she looked down at it hopefully. It was Lana. Good.

"Hey," Chloe said, answering immediately.

"I got your text. You have me all worried. Where are you? I'm on my way. I'm not far off."

"Just a sec, Lana," Chloe said, turning to the group to ask them what the address was. When Jonn told Chloe the address, Chloe relayed it back to Lana.

"I'll see you soon, Chloe. Give me like fifteen minutes. Umm, is this place big?" she asked before ending the call.

"Not particularly, why?" Chloe said.

"If Clark's there, me and him in close proximity isn't really a good thing, you know because of all the kryptonite I've absorbed. I don't want to hurt him."

"I'll let him know you're coming and he can tell me if this place is big enough for some distance and if not, he'll dash off for a bit," Chloe said.

"Okay, see you soon."

Chloe hung up the phone and found everyone looking at her, seemingly asking for some answers.

"I don't think Lex is actually dead. I think he's the one who's after me, and if there's anyone who knows Lex best, that would be Lana. She's probably got sources that we don't," Chloe said simply. "Clark, is this place big enough for her and you to be in, or is it gonna too be close with all the kryptonite in her system?"

"I don't know," Clark said. "But don't worry about it, if it starts to get to me, I'll just dash out of here."

"Okay," Chloe said, nodding.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Clark asked her.

Chloe nodded and headed for Jonn's kitchen.

"Listen, about before-" Clark started to speak, but Chloe cut him off with a grin.

"It's done Clark. It's all good. We both needed to let stuff out, and we did."

Clark didn't answer, instead he just closed the distance between himself and his best friend and he hugged her tightly. Chloe hugged him just as tight.

"Bye-bye to all the bad stuff?" Clark said, grinning down at Chloe.

"Yeah, bye-bye bad stuff," Chloe said with a laugh.

Oliver smiled as he watched Chloe and Clark from the kitchen doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt guys, but after you two are done, can you just stay here for a minute, Chloe? I wanna talk to you."

"Sure," Chloe said.

"Let's not make the man wait, Chloe," Clark said, grinning, finally letting go of the hug.

"So polite," Oliver said, chuckling, as Clark went back to the rest of the group.

Oliver started to talk, but Chloe cut him off with a kiss. She'd been impatient and abrupt with him earlier and he didn't deserve it at all. He was only trying to calm her down, but it had annoyed her for whatever reason.

"Nice to see you too, Sidekick," Oliver said with a grin.

"Sorry about before, it's just- I'm pissed at this whole situation right now," Chloe said. "I can't believe they went after Lois."

"I know," Oliver said. "But she's gonna be fine, really. You think Clark's not going to be keeping the closest possible eye on her at all times, now? She'll be safe... I know you hate it when I say it, because you think I'm just trying to make things sound like they're fine, but I really believe it Chloe, if we all work together, I think things _will _be fine."

"Even if I don't always share your optimism, I'm still happy you have it," Chloe told him.

"I want to ask you something, and I know that your first instinct is going to be to say no, but hear me out, okay?" Oliver said carefully.

"Okay, what is it?" Chloe asked, a little bit worried.

"I think that those bastards are going to back off for a few days. Everyone besides Clark and Jonn have agreed to stay in pairs or threes. They won't do anything solo for awhile. Emil already said he'll take care of Watchtower stuff and Vic can help him too if anything comes up-"

"What are you getting at, Ollie?" Chloe asked gently.

"Come away with me somewhere for a couple days. Just you and me. They'll be fine here for a couple days. I just want some time with you, away from here, before we really get into all this stuff. Please."

Chloe wanted to tell him that he was crazy and that there was no way that she was leaving at a time like this. But she kind of agreed with him on a couple points. For whatever reason, she didn't think whoever those men worked for was going to make another move for at least a few days. And she knew that he was right about Lois- Clark wasn't going to let anything happen to her again. Chloe still thought it was crazy to go away at a time like this, but she saw the look on Oliver's face. He wanted this. He needed this. He just wanted to be with her, and Chloe couldn't say that she didn't feel the same.

It was very difficult for Chloe to put responsibility on the side, even if it was only for a short while, and she was struggling to say yes to him. She wanted to go with him, but her responsible side, her 'protective of everyone else' side was telling her that she couldn't.

In the end, this time, Oliver won.

Chloe smiled. "So, you're right, the first thing I thought was 'no' and I still don't feel fully right with the idea of going away right now, but you really want this, huh? And I won't lie, the thought of getting away- just you and me, is rather appealing. Here's the deal, we hear what Lana's got to say. If nothing comes up that says a guaranteed 'yeah, Lex is alive and is probably the one after Chloe', you work your magic and organize something for us, and tomorrow and the next day I'm all yours, as long as everyone here promises that if something does go wrong, they call us the second something happens and we come back."

"Deal," Oliver said happily.

"So, where're are you taking me, Queen?" Chloe asked, loving to see him looking so happy.

"_Wherever _you want, Sullivan."

Chloe grinned, thinking about all the places she wanted to go, but she couldn't choose. There were so many great places to pick from. It was too hard.

"Okay, stop making googly-eyes at each other in there, and get your butts back here," A.C. called out from the living room.

"I think that's our cue, Arrow," Chloe laughed. "So, this little trip, I can't pick where I want to go, so you're just going to have to surprise me."

"Okay, I will. I think I already know where we're gonna go," Oliver said, trying to decide between three different places.

"Where?" Chloe asked.

"You just told me to surprise you. I'm not telling you now," Oliver told her, laughing.

Chloe rolled her eyes, but she wasn't even annoyed. She was looking forward to some time away with Oliver.

"You'll love it. I promise," Oliver said.

"I know I will," Chloe said, smiling, giving him a quick kiss.

"Make-out time is over. Get your asses in here," Lois yelled from the living room too, laughing.

"We heard you, Lane," Oliver yelled back, laughing. "We're coming."

Chloe walked into the living room first, sticking her tongue out at her cousin in amusement.

Oliver watched Chloe for a moment, happy to see her calm and joking around- happy as hell that he'd have her all to himself, away from it all for a couple days before they all really had to get down to business.


	22. Chapter 22

o-0-o-0-o Thanks to those who favourited and alerted the story, and thanks to Raya, Danielle, ica013, jj, morning1, jimmel, love, Kassie46 and whatweareafraidof for leaving a review/comment. Hope everyone will enjoy this new chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

"Hey missy," Chloe said, greeting Lana with a hug as she walked into Jonn's place. "Thanks for coming."

"No prob, Chloe. I'm glad you messaged me," Lana said, hugging her back. "Oh wow, full house."

"Hey Lana," Oliver greeted.

"Hey Oliver," Lana grinned. "You're fully dressed today," Lana commented, remembering that the last time she had seen him he was rushing to get on a shirt and heading off to work.

"Yes I am," Oliver laughed.

"You don't need it, but I put my seal of approval on you and Chloe being together," Lana whispered to him.

"I'm glad to hear that," Oliver said.

"Hi Lana," Clark said from across the room.

"Hey Clark," Lana said, giving him a smile. "You okay over there? The kryptonite's not too much?" she asked.

"I'm good. It's fine over here," he said.

"Good stuff," Lana said.

Everyone seemed to be watching and waiting to see what would happen with the next greeting- Lois and Lana.

"Hey Lois," Lana said.

"Hi Lana," Lois answered. "Okay you freakin' 12 years olds, stop staring over here like you're waiting for a catfight," Lois said to Oliver, Bart, A.C., Victor, Dinah and Emil who were all watching intently.

Lana chuckled.

"Okay yeah, the only two girls Clark's ever wanted to be with are in the same room, get over it, folks. Show some maturity," Chloe said, trying to keep things from getting too awkward. She had started to look nervous.

"There hasn't only been two," Lois said, actually amused by everything, deciding to have a little fun at Chloe and Clark's expense. The Super-gang members watching on, intrigued and ready for Lana and Lois to get catty with each other was kind of funny, but the most amusing people were Chloe and Clark. Clark had been looking back and forth between herself and Lana nervously, and Chloe seemed very annoyed as she looked at her team-mates who were being immature.

"We should add Alicia on the list. Clark was pretty crazy about her for awhile," Lana said, grinning at Lois. "There's someone else too, though, and she's in the room. I don't know why they're not doing the three-way stare at you, me and Chloe. I mean really, if it's about history and hearts, they shouldn't just be looking at you and me, right Lois?" Lana said.

"Right you are, Miss Lang," Lois said, grinning too.

Chloe snorted. "See people, they're making jokes, they're good. There's not gonna be a catfight, so stop staring."

"Okay, yeah, that was to ease some of the tension and get a little laugh," Lois admitted with a smile. "But honestly though, your best buddy _has_ wanted you at least once."

"Me and Clark going at it in the back of that car and then in the Talon in high-school when he was on RedK and I was on some sort of Slutty-dust does not count, Lo," Chloe told her cousin, embarrassed.

"You remember that?" Lana and Clark said at the same time.

If Oliver wasn't completely sure that Chloe was in love with only him right now, and that at this point in time there weren't any romantic feelings for Clark from Chloe, he might really hate this conversation, but secure in what he had with Chloe, this was a bit amusing.

"I didn't until a couple years ago. Don't ask, I don't know how I remembered," Chloe told them, not really believing that this was being talked about in front of everyone.

"That's not what I was talking about," Lois laughed. "But that's an interesting fact I didn't know about."

"Okay, I'll bite," Chloe said, putting aside her embarrassment. Everyone in this room was family, there wasn't a need to be uncomfortable about this stuff anymore, it was all in the past. "What _are _you talking about?" Chloe asked her cousin.

"You really have no idea?" Lois asked.

"No," Chloe said.

"I thought it was kind of obvious for awhile there. Of course Smallville never said anything, but I thought it would have been obvious to you."

"Oh good God, Lois, just say it," Chloe said.

"Maybe you never noticed, but if you did, didn't you ever wonder why Clark wasn't Jimmy's number 1 fan at the beginning?" Lois said, grinning.

Chloe looked from her cousin to Clark.

"Seriously?" Chloe said.

Clark shrugged and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"You were jealous of Jimmy?" Chloe asked her best friend.

"Maybe for a little while," Clark admitted with a little laugh.

"Why didn't you say anything back then, you idiot?" Chloe asked him, laughing too.

"I almost did."

"Why didn't you?" she asked again.

"You remember when everything was a disaster and that car came crashing through the window?"

"And you saved me from getting smashed to pieces- and then there was that epic kiss," Chloe said, grinning.

"Remember the first time I saw you after that?" Clark asked her.

"Yeah, you came to see me at the Planet, finally giving me a little relief after worrying that you were dead," Chloe said.

"Remember when the kiss got brought up?" Clark asked her.

Chloe nodded.

"You said that it had been the end of the world, but that you weren't expecting us to hook-up at present. Let's just say we weren't on the same wavelength then. I wasn't thinking the same thing."

"Wow," Chloe said. "You shouldn't have said 'yeah, me neither.' Chicken. You should have told me the truth," Chloe teased.

"Why, so I could embarrass myself after you basically said that it meant nothing to you," Clark said.

"I only said that because I thought that's what _you_ were gonna say. You stomped on my heart before, forgive a girl for being cautious," she said, elbowing him.

"Are you saying that things would have turned out differently if I told you the truth?" Clark asked her.

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying."

"But you were with Jimmy then."

Chloe snorted. "Me and Jimmy were just kinda getting to know each other again back then. Nothing was that serious at that point. He was sweet to me and I was flattered, but at that point I hadn't really fallen for him yet, that came later. If you had said you wanted to see what you and me would have been like, I would have said bring it on."

"You were a dumbass, man," Bart said to Clark, shaking his head and laughing.

"Apparently," Clark answered.

Chloe just grinned.

"We could have had some good times, Clark."

"Yeah, but I think we still managed to have some good times anyway, Chlo," Clark said, smiling.

"We most definitely did," Chloe agreed.

"I think the two of you would have been good together for a time," Jonn said, looking at Chloe and Clark. "But you're both with who you're meant to be with, I think."

Chloe and Clark smiled at the older man and nodded.

"Miss Lang and Clark's time was cut short, and I have to say that it's a tragic story, but I think she may have found the person she's supposed to be with, too," John continued.

"Umm, no offence, but you don't really know me well enough to be making comments on my love-life," Lana said, looking a bit uncomfortable. "And how would you even know _if _I have a love-life at the moment?"

"I apologize if I've offended you, I just saw you with someone the other day and you looked very- happy," Jonn said.

"Where did you see me?" Lana asked awkwardly.

"You were with my friend's son," Jonn answered.

"Oh, wow- okay."

Chloe was grinning. "Would this friend's son's last name be Ross?" Chloe asked.

Jonn nodded.

"I knew it!" Chloe exclaimed, clapping.

Lana let out a small laugh.

"You got with Pete! You got with Pete! You got with Pete!" Chloe said, happy and amused.

"I take it that you approve?" Lana said, smiling at her friend.

"Oh yes, definitely yes," Chloe told her. "I knew something was up with you two. I talked to Pete the other day and I mentioned you and something changed in his voice. And when I was talking to you a couple weeks back and you brought him up, I started to wonder. I like this very much. I totally approve. You've got the Sullivan seal of approval."

"Good to know," Lana said, happy with Chloe's reaction.

"Okay, now that all this is done- which I don't even remember how we got started on all this stuff at this point- I gotta get back to reality," Chloe said, more serious.

"Which Luthor do you think is still alive? My ex or his daddy?" Lana asked.

"Baldy," Chloe said.

"I keep an eye on things from time to time because I'm paranoid where the Luthor's are concerned. From what I've looked into recently though, nothing looks weird. Nothing seems suspicious. There doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary going on, but I'll admit, I haven't been going over everything with a magnifying glass. I hate to admit this, but it's Lex, right- if you've got a bad feeling about things I wouldn't call you crazy for believing that he might still be alive," Lana said.

"But there's nothing obvious that could make you say with certainty that he's alive, right?" Oliver said, speaking up.

"Right," Lana said.

"Why doesn't someone tell me what's going on here? I know you didn't just wake up one day thinking that Lex was alive for no reason, Chloe. Why do you think he's still alive?"

Chloe explained everything that had gone on recently, from her healing powers returning, to Oliver getting taken and questioned about her whereabouts and to the incident from earlier today with those four men and what happened to Lois.

"I'll go over everything I have again," Lana said seriously.

"Would you mind giving me access to what you have?" Victor asked Lana.

"If it could possibly help Chloe, sure," she said.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"They're not going to allow her to just hand herself over to us even if their own lives are in danger, you do know that, right?"

"Yes, I do know that. I think we'll give Miss Sullivan and her friends a few days of peace, then we'll start this all up again. Trust me, whatever move I choose to go with next, Chloe will find a way to get away from her band of heroes and hand herself over to me. I guarantee it."

"Are we going to use the baby Mr. Luthor?"

"Probably."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Everyone had left Jonn's place, except Jonn himself. Victor and Lana left together to go over all of Lana's information and footage. Bart, Dinah and A.C. left together because they were all going to be doing work together. Bart and Dinah were helping A.C. with one of his save-the fish type side-projects. Emil was back at the hospital and Lois was at the farm with Clark.

Chloe was back at Oliver's place with him.

"We haven't heard anything bad yet, Sidekick. You and me are getting out of here for a couple days," Oliver told her with a grin.

"I guess we are," Chloe said, smiling back, trying not to worry.

She had been fine before, laughing, amused and happy even for awhile with everyone together, but now her worry was coming back. She almost lost her cousin today, she couldn't deal with something like that again. If anything happened to her friends or family or Oliver, she didn't know what she would do.

Chloe had already called and checked in on her mother, father and friend Selena. Everyone was fine.

Chloe could handle people being after her, but she couldn't handle people going after her loved ones. She switched on the TV and put it on one of the channel's that just continuously played music- not music videos, just music, and she tried to make herself stop thinking about bad things happening.

"So," Chloe said, trying to pull herself out of worry and get excited about going away with Oliver. "Should I be bringing anything specific with me tomorrow?"

Oliver didn't answer her. Instead, he moved closer to her and brushed a finger across her cheek. It was only then that Chloe realized that she had been crying.

A lot of people might think that Chloe's tears were because she was afraid of what might happen to her, but Oliver knew that that wasn't the case.

"We're gonna be fine, Sidekick. Nothing's gonna happen to us. Stop worrying, please.," he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm trying really hard to believe that, Ollie," Chloe said, returning the embrace, resting her head against him. "I can't help but be scared Ollie- the people in my life mean everything to me. Every time my mind goes back to that they're going to try to get to me through you guys, I see one of you lying hurt or dead, especially you- and it's not even that they had to _ find _you- I keep seeing you hunt _them _down, and then you're just lying there and you're bleeding, and I can't stand it. I couldn't take it if something happened to you, especially because of me."

"It's all going to be fine," Oliver told her.

Neither Chloe or Oliver made any move to exit the embrace. They were comfortable the way they were.

"I have a request," Chloe said, after a minute of comfortable silence.

"And what would that be, Sullivan?"

"Wherever we're going- just make it you and me, okay? I don't want to go to any big hot-spots. I just want some time alone with you. Some peace and quiet."

"I'm glad you said that because that was the idea I had in the first place," he told her.

"Good," she said, smiling.

They finally let go of each other when the bell rang. The Chinese food they had ordered had arrived. They had eaten hours earlier, but they were hungry again.

They didn't bother eating at the table, they hardly ever did. They sat comfortably on the couch and enjoyed the food. After a few minutes, Chloe put her container of food down and reached for the remote, turning up the volume.

"You wanna know something?" Chloe asked.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"I love this song," Chloe told him. "I have for quite awhile, but some months ago, when I was being crazy/messed up/emotionally damaged Chloe, this became my song for you. I'd hear this and I would think of you. It pretty much summed up how I was feeling."

Chloe had never really intended to tell him that, but she thought letting him in a bit more right now was the right thing to do. He was thrilled to be getting away with her for a couple days, but she hadn't fully let herself get as happy about that as him because of her worry for everyone, but she didn't want him to think for a second that it had anything to do with not actually wanting to go away with _him. _Chloe leaned her head back against the sofa as the song played. It was 'Take Me Away' by Lifehouse.

_This time what I want is you.__There is no one else__who can take your place.__T__his time you burn me with your eyes.__You see past all the lies. __Y__ou take it all away. __I've seen it all__and it's never enough__. __It keeps leaving me needing you_

_T__ake me away__. __Take me away.__ I've __got nothing left to say__, __just take me away__. __I try to make my way to you,__but still I feel so lost. __I don't know what else I can do.__I've seen it all__and it's never enough__. __It keeps leaving me needing you. _

_Take me away__. __Take me away. __I've got nothing left to say,__just take me away. _

_Don't give up on me yet.__Don't forget who I am.__I know I'm not there yet,__but don't let__me stay here alone._

_This time what I want is you.__There is no one else__who can take your place.__I've seen enough and it's never enough.__It keeps leaving me needing you_

_Take me away.__Take me away.__I've got nothing left to say,__just take me away. Take me away. Take me away.__I've got nothing left to say,__just take me away__. _

"I'm really glad you didn't give up on me, Queen," Chloe said quietly when the song was over, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Me too," he said.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Tess hadn't been back here in over a year now, and she instantly regretted not keeping a better eye on this place, but she had thought that no one else would know about it. Things were broken, and many things had clearly been stolen. Shattered glass was all over the place. She wondered how long ago this all happened. She had a very bad feeling that a certain something would be missing, and her stomach dropped inside her chest when she found out that she was right.

This was not good. This wasn't good at all if the wrong person got their hands on it. Tess couldn't shake the feeling that somehow there was a link with this and the men who were after Chloe.

Several scenarios ran through Tess' head and none of them were good.


	23. Chapter 23

**o-0-o-0-o I'm sorry that it's been so long since I updated but this chapter had been giving me such problems lol from erasing it, to having to re-write it, to not being able to upload it for quite awhile, but it's here now. Thanks for alerting and favouriting. And thanks a lot to ica013, whatweareafraidof, Naleylover23xo, morning1, Mark. Sv, jimmel, Danielle, jj and Raya for the reviews/comments. Here's the new chapter. Leave a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o**

Chloe Sullivan was in Italy. Chloe Sullivan was on a beach in Italy. Chloe Sullivan was on a private beach in Italy. Chloe Sullivan was on a private beach in Italy with Oliver Queen. And she was loving it.

There was nothing new on the Lex front. Lana and Victor had been going over everything and there was nothing that popped out screaming 'Lex!'

Chloe had finally just let go. There was nothing to be done about whoever was after her right now. They had nothing to go on, so she finally just let herself enjoy her time with Oliver.

There wasn't anyone around to bug them, and Chloe really liked that.

At the moment she was running away from Oliver, screaming and laughing her head off.

He wanted to go in the water, but she wasn't ready yet. She just wanted to lie down and feel the sand under her feet for a bit. She had told him to go in, and that she'd join him in a bit. Apparently that wasn't good enough for Oliver because he was now running after her saying "Sand later, water now."

"You sound like you're two," she laughed as she continued running from him.

"Don't be mean, Sidekick. Come keep me company in the water."

"Later," she said, still laughing and still running.

Running on the warm sand actually felt quite nice.

"You should just stop running, you know I'm gonna catch you," Oliver teased, chasing after her still.

"I'm not so sure about that, you haven't caught me yet. Don't underestimate me, Queen."

They ran around like kids without a care in the world.

After awhile, Chloe was getting a bit tired, she wasn't a running-machine. "Okay, okay- you win, Ollie."

"That's what I thought," Oliver said, grinning.

Chloe had stopped running and so had Oliver.

"Come on Professor, the water's awesome," Oliver said, putting his feet in the water.

Chloe was laughing, however. She wasn't following Oliver into the water, she was lying down on the sand instead.

"You suck, Sullivan," Oliver said, coming over to Chloe, plopping himself down next to her in the sand.

"Don't be a baby, Ollie," Chloe said, laughing a little, rubbing his leg with her foot. "Let me lie here for a couple minutes. It feels so nice," she said, closing her eyes, taking hold of his hand.

"This does feel nice," Oliver admitted, closing his eyes too.

They lay there for a few moments, and Oliver opened his eyes first. He looked over at Chloe and smiled. She looked perfectly calm and relaxed. She looked happy.

"It's not polite to stare, Oliver," Chloe said, grinning with her eyes still closed.

"Your eyes are closed. You have no proof that I'm staring."

Chloe opened her eyes and found Oliver staring. "There's my proof," she laughed.

"Are you having a good time?" Oliver asked her.

She smiled and told him that she was. "This place is beautiful. Thanks for bringing me here," she said, leaning over to kiss him.

He kissed her back, and then pulled her on top of himself.

"I thought you wanted to go in the water," Chloe teased, kissing him again.

"I _did,_ but this is much more appealing now. I think the water can wait," Oliver told her, working on getting her top off.

"We're gonna do this out here?" Chloe asked with a laugh, as her top got thrown into the sand.

"It's only us Sidekick, we can do whatever the hell we want. There's no one else around. We can't get in trouble for indecent exposure or public indecency or whatever for having sex on this beach."

Chloe burst out laughing as she pictured the both of them getting arrested.

"You're picturing us getting arrested, aren't you?" Oliver asked , grinning as Chloe threw the shirt he'd just been wearing into the sand next to hers.

She nodded, still laughing as he kissed her some more.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Tess came to the conclusion that Lex Luthor was alive. There was no actual proof to support this conclusion, but she was stuck on it. The only people who knew about this place were herself and the eight men she had very briefly employed when she had captured Davis.

Five of those men had worked for Lex in the past, and it was those five men who were responsible for getting something from Davis that Tess had never told them to get.

Tess felt beyond stupid now, looking back. When people who work for you do something that you didn't tell them to, you shouldn't just let it go without further thinking.

They had said that they'd done it so that if Tess ever wanted to do some of the types of things that Lex did, it could come in handy. If she was looking into the business of experimenting with life like Lex had done, this would be extremely helpful. She could see how strong or how human and normal a child could turn out to be with only the mother being a full human. She'd be able to see what kind of effect extra-terrestrial DNA would have when it mixed with human DNA.

Tess hadn't intended on using it, but because she had come into possession of it, she decided to keep it. Was it weird? Yeah, sure it was. But it was something alien, so she had kept it.

She was so stupid, she should have known that what those men had told her was complete and utter bullshit, because honestly, who would think of that on their own and go through with getting it, however they did, without being asked to? No one, only someone working for Lex. She'd been extra-stressed back then, she would never buy excuses like that now. Only an idiot would.

She had been dealing with people who worked with Lex. She shouldn't have hired them in the first place.

Lex had to be alive. Lex had to have had those men on his payroll. Lex was just the kind of guy who would want Davis Bloom's sperm so that he could experiment on what kind of child would result from some poor human woman and an alien. Lex was just the kind of guy to do something like that and see if he could create a possibly indestructible little soldier for himself.

The sick feeling in Tess' stomach just wouldn't go away.

Depending on when the stuff was taken (it had been a bit more than a year since she had been here last), Tess was willing to bet just about everything she had that there was a little Davis crawling around or growing inside some woman's womb.

Tess was pretty much as sure as she'd ever been about anything in her life that Lex Luthor was the one going after Chloe now, too.

She was now piecing something else together as well, and she cringed a little bit. This baby that Tess had no proof existed would be a little experiment for Lex , no doubt, but Tess was pretty sure that this kid of Davis' was somehow gonna be used against Chloe.

Tess didn't want to know about this. Tess didn't want to have any damn involvement at all, but Chloe had went and revived her ass in the hospital that day when she could have literally just left her for dead. Tess would never admit this to anyone, but a part of her felt like she still owed Chloe for that. Tess felt an obligation to look out for her now and she didn't like it at all.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Chloe and Oliver had not been inside the beach house for more than five minutes all day long, and they weren't in there now either.

The sun had set an hour earlier, and now Chloe and Oliver were sitting next to a fire, toasting marshmallows.

Chloe hadn't felt this relaxed or had as much fun as she had today in a very long time. She stared at Oliver for a moment, and she smiled. She was lucky to have him.

"It's not polite to stare, Chloe," Oliver said, teasing her with her own line from earlier.

Chloe just grinned and grabbed the marshmallow Oliver had just been toasting.

They sat silently for a few minutes, comfortable with the quiet, toasting the last bit of marshmallows from the bag.

"You're really good to me, Ollie," Chloe said as he gave her the last marshmallow.

"It's only a marshmallow Chlo, no biggie," Oliver said and Chloe laughed.

"I wasn't talking about the marshmallow, though thanks for letting me have the last one."

Oliver shrugged and grinned at her.

"I'll be right back," Chloe said, getting up to go inside to use the washroom.

Chloe had left her phone open in the sand, and now it was flashing. Oliver did the nosy, childish thing and leaned over to see who was texting Chloe.

It was Selena.

'I look like the Goodyear blimp. I can't even see my feet and I'd love nothing more than to punch someone in the face right now. I want this baby out right now. The doctor says she can come any day now. I've asked my daughter why she won't come out yet, but she's not answering me. I'm already getting the silent treatment from my kid. I predict an attitude on this one in the coming years. Oh yay... Okay, rant done. I know you're laughing at me right now, but you just wait- one day you'll find yourself knocked up and unable to see your feet, and then I'll get to laugh at you... Okay I'll leave you alone now. Have fun on the beach while I try to convince my kid to come out and meet me.'

Oliver laughed and quickly moved away from Chloe's phone so it wouldn't look like he'd been snooping. Selena's complaining rant was funny, but Oliver's mind was on something else right now.

He hadn't ever really thought seriously about kids outside of wondering why some people even had them. Some people should not be allowed to have children. Now that he was with Chloe, though, the thought was a little bit different. It would be pretty cool if there was some little person that was a part of him and Chloe- pretty cool indeed.

And then Oliver laughed again, picturing the look that would come over Chloe's face if having kids were to get mentioned. She'd probably have a freak out. Hell, she'd probably jump into the water and try to swim her way back to Kansas to get away from him. She'd only recently completely let herself go and love him, thinking about a kid would probably be way too much for her. It would send her running in the opposite direction.

Chloe came back and sat down, passing a bottle of water to Oliver.

"Oooh, a message from the outside world," Chloe said with a grin, picking up her phone.

It was when Chloe stopped laughing for a second that Oliver knew what part of the message she was reading. He tried not to laugh at the look on her face.

"Who's it from?" he asked her.

"Selena," Chloe said. "She apparently can't see her feet and would really like to punch someone in the face. She wants that baby out now, but apparently little miss Rina isn't ready to face the world yet," Chloe told him.

"She's due soon, isn't she?" he asked.

"Any day now. I swear there were points when I went shopping with her that I really thought her water was gonna break."

Oliver laughed as a picture of a cleaning guy came into his head. He was picturing the poor guy mopping up Selena's water.

"I kept checking my phone to make sure I had service. For awhile I was convinced that Selena was going to have her baby and that for some reason some kind of disaster was going to happen and we'd get stuck in the store. She'd be stuck giving birth with a bunch of employees and me who knew nothing about it," Chloe laughed. "It was a little bit traumatizing."

"Awww poor Chloe," Oliver teased.

Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Would you say no to coming back here sometime in the future?" Oliver asked after a moment..

"Not only would I not say no to coming back here in the future, I would actually say _yes _ to coming back here in the future," Chloe told him with a grin.

"Good to know," Oliver said.

He was really enjoying having her all to himself.

"So, be honest, how many times have you checked in with the team?" Oliver asked, already laughing.

"You'd be very proud of me in the past 5 hours. I haven't bugged anyone in 5 hours at all. I tried to drill it in my head that they'd call if anything was up" Chloe said.

"I actually am impressed, Sidekick. What about before that?"

"Quite a few," Chloe told him, laughing. "I'm Watchtower, Ollie, what did you expect? Did you actually think I could hand over the reigns of Watchtower as soon as we got here?"

"Nope," Oliver laughed. "Like I said, I'm actually pretty impressed."

"How much did this cost?" Chloe asked, pointing to everything around her. "How much does it cost to hang out at this awesome place all by ourselves?"

"I don't think you want to know ," Oliver said, smirking.

"Was it _really _expensive?" Chloe asked.

"_I_ don't think it was really expensive," Oliver said.

"Yeah, well you don't really think anything is expensive, Ollie," Chloe said, smiling at him. "You're a little crazy."

"You're smiling and having fun. I'm smiling and having fun. I say it was money well spent."

"It _was_ well spent," Chloe agreed. "But still crazy," she laughed.

"What the hell are we gonna do when we have to go back? I don't want to go back," Oliver said, putting on a pouty face.

Chloe elbowed him playfully. "You wouldn't actually be able to stay here that long. There's no one to save here. Your hero-ness would start to kick in and you'd be running back to the real world to find someone to help."

"You're probably right," Oliver said.

"I'm _definitely_ right," Chloe said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Coming here had definitely been good for her- for her body and mind. Both felt more relaxed now than in a very long time.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Do you think Chloe's right? Do you think it's really Lex who's after her?" Lois asked Clark, taking a bite of her burger.

"I think she could be right," Clark said, nodding at his girlfriend. "I mean, if he's really alive and he knows that Chloe can heal, that alone would be motivation enough for Lex to want her. If Lex is alive, I'd bet that he's doing experiments and stuff. He's not above experimenting on people. I could see him cruelly experimenting, not caring if he kills someone. But if he had Chloe, he could keep making progress, right?"

"What do you mean?" Lois asked.

"If he's trying to accomplish something specific and someone goes and dies on him, he'd have to start all over again, right? If he had Chloe, she could just keep on healing whoever he might be experimenting on and he could just keep going with it, keep going until he gets the results he wants with that person."

Lois cringed.

"So there's the fact that she's a healer. There's the fact that she's Watchtower and knows just about everything about a bunch of heroes, and has a whole lot of info on just about everything else. There's the fact that she's with Oliver, and you know Lex already hated him before Oliver killed him. Getting Chloe could be a kind of payback. He could use Chloe as a way to hurt Oliver. There's the fact that she's my best friend and he could use her as a way to hurt _me._There's the chance that he might know that _Chloe_ knew Oliver killed him... I can think of a lot of reasons that Lex would do it if he's the one behind it all. In the end though, it doesn't matter. Lex, or whoever the hell is after her isn't going to get her. No one's taking Chloe away from us."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Tess hung up the phone and cursed. Yeah, she was pretty sure her former employees were working for Lex. No one turns down tons of cash on the spot to come do a quick job unless they're already working for someone else who's paying them a ton of money. She had called some of the guys, ready to think up an excuse on the fly, she just wanted to hear their voices to see if they sounded suspicious at all, and they did.

Tess wasn't sure what she was supposed to say to Chloe because she had no real proof to back up her theory. Chloe would probably just think she was crazy or that she was lying.

Tess could just picture the conversation. 'Hey Chloe. I think it's Lex Luthor who is after you- oh and I think that in addition to trying to create a little soldier for himself, he's creating a guilt weapon to use against you so that you'll go to him willingly. I had Davis's sperm frozen and locked away and I just know that Lex's guys were the ones to steal it, and that there's a little baby Davis out there already or will be soon. Lex is going to try to use this Davis baby to guilt you into going with him. I don't know if I mentioned that I have no actually proof to back any of this up.'

Oh yeah, that was going to be an awesome conversation. Maybe she should try talking to Oliver or Clark first. That probably wouldn't go over much better.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Neither Chloe or Oliver was quite sure _ how _exactly they came to be doing one of the survey/question/answer type of thing that you often found inside magazines, but they were making their way through it. Apparently asking an answering all of these questions would guarantee a smooth-sailing relationship.

Chloe and Oliver had come across the magazine when they finally went inside the beach-house for the night. Chloe had picked up the magazine and laughed.

"Oooooh, _I _want a smooth-sailing relationship," Oliver said, amused. "We absolutely must go through these questions, Sidekick."

Chloe just shook her head and grinned. "Okay."

They went through questions on favourite colours and foods and songs, which Chloe just laughed at. Those weren't very important things, but the questions that came later kind of were. They weren't exactly the most comfortable questions to be answering, but they both promised to answer them and so they did.

Question 1 of the tough ones: What are you most afraid of?

Chloe and Oliver counted to three and answered at the same time. Both said 'failure.'

"I _knew _you'd say that," Oliver told her, grinning a bit. "You don't like not succeeding."

"It's not just about winning and losing in a competition type way, though. Failure can mean a lot more than just someone else beating you at something."

"Like what?" Oliver asked her.

"Heartbreak can be failure."

"How so?"

"Well you have to have failed somewhere if things get to a point where you're heart is breaking. Either you're not enough, or you just messed up somewhere along the way," Chloe said. "And then you can fail by letting someone down. Someone counts on you and you can't pull through for them- that's definitely failure to me... So yeah, I _hate _not winning or succeeding or whatever, but there's other ways to fail too, and it's kinda scary because I'd never want any of that to happen either."

"I don't think you have to worry about _any_kind of failure," Oliver said, offering a smile.

They went through some more questions and Chloe snorted when she got to this particular one.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"You won't even know the answer to this one," Chloe laughed.

"What's the question?" Oliver asked.

"How many people have you slept with?" Chloe asked, smirking.

"Okay, you're right. I don't know the answer to that," Oliver said, cringing a bit.

"You used to be _such_ a man-whore," Chloe said, laughing some more.

"Ha-ha," Oliver said, rolling his eyes at her. "You?"

"Two. Jimmy and you," she said simply.

"Really, that's it?"

Chloe raised her eyebrow torn between a grin and a frown.

"I'm not sure if I should take that as some sort of compliment or if I should be a little insulted."

"Oh come on, Sidekick," Oliver said, flashing her a grin.

Chloe rolled her eyes, but the grin won out over the frown.

"After the first time, I wished that I waited longer. It had happened so fast. If I would have given myself time to think a little bit more, I wouldn't have slept with Jimmy that summer during high-school when we were both working at the Planet. I regretted it because it didn't really mean anything, and so after that I was just really cautious. Just because someone was cute and made me feel good, it didn't mean I was supposed to sleep with him."

"I applaud your self-control- I had very little of that," Oliver told her.

Chloe laughed and told him to move on to the next question. "How many people have you been in love with?"

"You first, even though I already know your answer," Chloe said.

"Three. Tess, Lois and you. What about you, Professor?"

Chloe sighed and took a deep breath. Sure, she'd told Clark that she fell for Davis, but she had never said out loud to anyone besides at Davis' grave- to Davis himself- that she actually _loved _him. She wondered if Oliver was going to judge her for it. If he did, then so be it. Chloe was really trying to do the whole honesty thing with Oliver, even if this all came out of a stupid magazine thing.

"Four."

Oliver sat up a little straighter. Was she actually going to tell him about Davis? Yeah, he already knew about her feelings for Davis, but he wasn't supposed to know since she never actually told him. He only knew because he had put a mini-camera on her one night- a night that she went to Davis's grave to get a bunch of things off of her chest.

If Chloe was going to mention Davis, it wasn't going to be new knowledge for Oliver, but it would be something major. That was something she had kept to herself for a long time, and Oliver knew that there was so much different pain associated with Davis- if she was going to tell him, she'd be opening up even more than she recently had, and she had opened up a lot.

If she told him, she'd be giving him another little piece of her, and Oliver was collecting them like they were the most precious things in the world- and really, for him, every little piece of Chloe _was_ a precious thing.

"Clark and Jimmy," Chloe started, biting her lip and closing her eyes for a second. After a little bit, she finished the list. "D- Davis and you."

_She said it. _

Chloe stared at Oliver, waiting for his reaction. She was surprised at what it was. There was no judgement or disappointment on his face. There was only a genuine smile, and Chloe returned it gladly.

Oliver was perfect and Chloe wasn't ever going to let him go.


	24. Chapter 24

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks to GoChlollie, , Raya, Danielle, morning1, naleylover23xo and ica013 for reviewing/leaving comments, and thanks to those who favourite also. Chapter 24 is here. Hope you'll enjoy it. Leave a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o**

It had been two days, and Tess still hadn't attempted to contact Chloe. She just didn't think Chloe was going to believe her. But she would do it today. She'd tell her her theory today. In fact, she was going to call her right now.

o-o-o-o-o

Victor and Lana were in Watchtower, along with Chloe, Oliver, Clark and Lois. Lana and Victor were going over all of the things they had searched through with the rest of them, just to be extra sure that nothing looked suspicious. These things had already checked, but no one wanted to take any chances at all where Chloe's safety was concerned. There could be something that meant nothing to one of them, but that could mean a clue to another one of them.

Chloe and Oliver had been back for about ten hours, and they'd all been looking at all the information Lana had for the last four.

"There really is nothing here," Victor finally said, letting out a yawn. "We've got nothing to prove that Lex is the creep who is after you, Tower," he said, turning to face Chloe.

"I know," Chloe sighed. "But I'm telling you, with every passing second I feel more and more that it's Lex. It might seem crazy, but I'm telling you it's Lex."

"It's not that crazy, Chlo," Clark said, rubbing his forehead. "I can see many reasons why Lex being behind this would make a whole lot of sense."

Chloe's phone was ringing, and she was happy to see who was calling. It was Tess. Chloe bet that the other woman had something important to tell her. It's not like they were talking buddies, so the call was obviously about something important.

"Hello."

"Chloe, where are you? I need to talk to you. It would be preferable if Oliver and Clark were there too."

"You make sure no one's following you. I'll meet you at the place where you basically called me a blind idiot," Chloe said, remembering the conversation they had about herself and Oliver when Tess broke into Watchtower.

Tess snorted. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Okay," Chloe said, hanging up. "Tess is coming. She has something she needs to tell me, and apparently," she said, turning to Oliver and Clark, "it's preferable if you two are here."

"You're buddies with Tess now?" Lana said. "Last I remember, you two did _not _get along."

"I never told you what happened?" Chloe asked.

"Apparently not," Lana answered.

"I really thought I did. Well anyways, long story short, she broke in here one day and pulled a gun on me. Watchtower went into lockdown, we had to figure out how the hell to get out of here before we died. We got out and went to the hospital, and when we were there I killed her. She had this tracking thing from Checkmate that was activated inside of her, and the only way to basically kill it was to kill her. I stopped her heart and could have really left her for dead, but I didn't... She won't ever say it, but I know she feels like she owes me. I don't think I'd call us buddies exactly, but I actually trust her," Chloe explained.

"Wow," Lana said. "It's never boring here, is it?"

"Nope," everyone said in unison.

Lana looked at Chloe for a moment and smiled. Even though it wasn't a pleasant time due to some freak being after Chloe, there was an air of happiness and confidence in Chloe, and Lana was happy to see it. Chloe was out of dumps and she had things back on track and Lana could not be gladder about it.

"What?" Chloe asked.

"You've got some psycho after you, but you still manage to actually seem pretty happy."

Chloe just shrugged and gave Lana a smile.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Miss Ryan, you will remember the story we have given you, the one you have been giving out for months now, but as usual, you will remember none of this conversation. You're free to go now."

The woman, Miss Ryan, had a blank look come over her face. "Where am I?"

"I think you got lost," a tall man with red hair said, responding with a smile. "You must have turned the wrong corner or something."

"Wow, I feel stupid. I'll be on my way," Miss Ryan said, walking away.

"You're very handy to have around," Lex said, turning to face the tall red-headed man.

"Yes, I would imagine I am. Someone who can make others do whatever he wants is quite useful. That's why you pay me so well."

"She looks just about ready to give birth. Things are going to get interesting soon," Lex said, grinning. "You'll finally get to meet Miss Sullivan in person."

"I don't know why you sound so happy," the tell red-head laughed. "She's probably going to try to kill you when she gets here."

"She probably will, but in the end she won't do it. In the end, she's gonna do whatever I want her to do."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Oh lovely," Tess said, glancing at Lois, Lana and Victor. "Even more people to think I'm nuts for what I'm about to say."

"What is it that you wanted to tell me?" Chloe asked.

"I think Lex is the one who's after you," Tess said, just blurting it out.

Everyone cursed, but to Tess' surprise, a smile was on Chloe's face.

"Are you on some kind of drugs, Chloe? You think Lex being after you is something to smile about?" Tess asked, thinking Chloe's reaction was crazy.

"No it's not anything to smile about," Chloe said, sighing a bit. "But you basically just confirmed my suspicions. I've been right. I said it was Lex, and it is."

"Technically, I have no proof to back the assumption up, but I can tell you that I'm 99.9% sure it's him, and I think he's got quite the twisted little plan."

"What is it?" Oliver, Clark, Lois, Lana and Victor all asked at the same time.

Tess cringed as she started to explain.

"So you're telling us that you had Davis Bloom's sperm frozen and locked away and that now it's stolen?" Lois said, looking at Tess like she was a freak after she explained part of her theory on why Lex was after Chloe.

"Yeah," Tess answered.

"Okay, just so you know- creepy," Lana said, putting her two cents in.

"What the hell does that have to do with me?" Chloe asked.

"You really didn't put it together yet?" Tess said, annoyed.

"Obviously not," Chloe said, annoyed too.

"He's gonna use Davis' sperm and some chick is gonna have a baby. There's gonna be a little Davis crawling around soon, if there isn't already one... You ran away with the guy, didn't you? I know you did it for Clark, but you obviously had feelings for Davis. Lex is gonna use that kid against you. He's gonna use the fact that you had feelings for Davis and the baby that's a piece of him against you."

"That would never have worked with Chloe," Oliver said, not liking any of this at all.

"Seriously, Ollie?" Tess said, looking at Oliver like he was an idiot. "It _so _would have worked. If Lex was threatening some random baby there's a huge chance that Chloe would go with him to save the kid. If he throws it out there that this baby is Davis' kid, I _guarantee_ that Chloe would go to Lex to keep the baby safe if Lex was threatening it... Oh don't look like a lost puppy Oliver, we all know Chloe loves you."

"I'm standing right here. Don't talk about me like I'm somewhere else," Chloe snapped at Tess and Oliver, trying to take everything in. This was all really weird.

"He's a dirty _fucking _bastard," Lana said angrily.

Everyone besides Chloe turned to look at Lana, a little shocked. Lana wasn't one to swear. Chloe was pretty sure she knew why Lana was so upset after hearing that, though.

"That's what he does, he likes to use babies to get what he wants from women," Lana mumbled.

Chloe felt bad for what she knew Lana was remembering.

Lana pretended a lot while she was married to Lex. Chloe honestly didn't think Lana was ever truly in love with him, but even if she ever was, she wasn't happy with him just before she found out she was pregnant. Chloe had been pretty sure that she wanted the marriage to be over. But Lex played around, got doctors in on his little plan and had Lana convinced that she was pregnant. She never was. Lex used a baby that didn't exist to get Lana to stay, to try to get her to love him, or to love him again, depending on how you saw things.

"What do you think, Lana?" Chloe asked. "When we get him, because we _are_ gonna get him, what should we do? I was thinking about just killing him right away, but now I'm thinking that we can add castration in there too, right before we kill him," Chloe said, flashing a grin at Lana.

"I think your idea is fabulous," Lana said, laughing, sending a grin back at Chloe.

Tess just shook her head. Clark and Victor looked a bit disturbed. Lois was smirking, and Oliver looked like he was in his own little world at the moment.

Chloe's phone rang, and a smile crossed her face again. "I think I have to go," she said to the group around her before answering the phone. "Hey Selena," she answered.

"Chloe, remember when you told me you'd be in the hospital with me when I had the baby if that's I wanted?" Selena said, sounding out of breath.

"Yeah, I do," Chloe said.

"That's what I want. Can you meet me at the hospital? My water just broke, Rocco's driving me there right now. I'm really scared. I don't want to do this alone. And I'm not calling that jackass ex of mine. He can see the baby after she's born, but I don't want him there with me."

"I'll be there right away. You don't have to do this alone," Chloe said.

"Thank you."

"I'll see you soon," Chloe said, hanging up.

"Okay people, I have to go. Selena's gonna have her baby, and I promised her I'd be there. Clark, be by best buddy and speed me to the hospital? Please and thanks."

"Sure thing," Clark said, and before anyone could blink, Chloe and Clark were gone.

Everyone who was left in Watchtower was looking at each other like they were all suddenly thinking the same thing.

Tess was the first to speak. "Chloe has a pregnant friend about ready to pop out a baby? How long has Chloe known her?"

"Only months," Oliver said, sighing.

"Okay, it looks like we're all thinking that something might be shady about Chloe's newest friend, but I just want to confirm that that's _actually_ what we're all thinking," Lois said, rubbing her temple.

Everyone just nodded.

"The woman really could just be some pregnant chick who became friends with Chloe, though," Victor said, trying to be reasonable, though admittedly he was thinking the same thing as everyone else.

"Yeah, she could be, but I say we shouldn't be taking any chances with anything right now," Clark added, whooshing back into Watchtower.

"I say we make a visit to the hospital to keep on eye on things," Oliver said.

"I say that I agree," Tess told him, feeling happy to actually be working on the same side as him.

"You're with us on this?" Oliver asked her, looking straight into her eyes.

"I'm with you guys," Tess confirmed.

"We need to be smart about all of this, though. We can't all go in there. That's gonna look weird, especially since not all of us know Selena," Lois said. "I say that _I_ go to the hospital because I can actually be there without it being weird since I'm kind of friends with Selena too. If you all insist on someone else coming in there too, it'll be Ollie cuz he's friendly enough with her as well."

"You're right," Oliver said. "Okay, so it'll be Lois and me at the hospital. Clark, I want you and Tess to stick around the building in general and keep an eye on things from the outside. Lana, Victor-"

"We'll get into the hospital camera feed, and the parking lot's camera feed and keep an eye on things from here," Lana said, grinning, finishing off the sentence for Oliver.

"And-"

"And if things start to look bad, I'll get the rest of the team together and Bart can speed everyone right over," Victor said before Oliver could even get it out.

"Okay, sounds good. The rest of you- let's get the hell out of here," Oliver said, heading for the door.


	25. Chapter 25

**o-0-o-0-o Sorry that this has taken so long to put up but a lot is going on and I'm back in school again. Thanks so much to ica013, Naleylover23xo, GoChlollie, Raya, morning1, Kassie46, jj, Whatever-the-weather and Twilitz for the reviews/comments and thanks to those who have favourited the story. Chapter 25 is here. I really hope you'll enjoy it. Please take a little time, even if it's just a couple seconds, to leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o**

Clark and Tess moved around outside of the hospital.

"I like you like this," Clark said.

"Like what?" she asked him.

"Helping us- not having an agenda- being good. I could be friends with you like this. I can work with you like this."

"Good to know," Tess said, rolling her eyes but smiling a little bit, too. "I'll bet you anything that one of Lex's idiots is either already here or will be coming soon," Tess said, constantly surveying the scene around them.

"I wouldn't bet against that," Clark told her.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"You look really worried, Queen," Lois commented, as she and Oliver sat in the hospital waiting room.

"I think I have a right to be, Lane," Oliver said, sighing.

"Oh good God, you're jealous of a freakin' baby that's not even born yet," Lois said, elbowing him. "Don't be dumb."

"You really can't see why I'm worried?" Oliver asked.

"No, not really," Lois said, scanning the room.

"Chloe loved Davis. She only recently admitted that. She finally told me that she loved him the other day, but I'd already known that for awhile. I guess Chloe had Davis buried because one day she was in the cemetery and she was talking to him. It was after she and I sort of had a fight. I was worried about her because she wasn't talking to me, so I kind of 'pulled a Chloe' and I stuck a camera on her, and I heard the whole thing. She picked Clark over Davis every time, and she wouldn't change anything. She'd always protect Clark first. She'd kill Davis to keep Clark safe. But she loved him, Lois. Chloe loved Davis, and she had said that if things had been different she would have been with him. She said if things were different, he would have been perfect for her... She thinks something went wrong when we split him from Doomsday. She doesn't think it worked properly... She loved him and things were so messed up. She wished things could have been different. A big part of her wanted to save him, you know?... What do you want to bet that if it turns out that this is his kid, she's gonna do everything she can to be this baby's hero. She's gonna love that kid, I'm telling you right now... If that kid is Davis', Selena has been lying to Chloe since day one. If that kid's not really her boyfriend's, maybe it's not even hers. Lex probably stole some woman's eggs, too, and not just Davis' sperm-" Oliver was going to continue, but Lois cut him off.

"Are you thinking that if that's the case, Chloe's gonna find a way to take the baby away from Selena?"

"Yeah, that's kinda what's going on in my head right now, and if that happens I know she's gonna start to push me away. It doesn't make sense, but I can already see it," Oliver said, exasperated.

Lois bit her lip and tried not to laugh. "Ollie, come on. Stop it."

"Chloe does not want kids any time soon, but I'm telling you I already know what's gonna happen. If that kid isn't actually Selena's and she's been in on this whole sick thing, Chloe's gonna take that kid and she's gonna take care of it and she's gonna fall in love with it and she's still gonna do all her Watchtower stuff, but _me, _I'm either gonna get pushed away or dropped altogether," Oliver said, rubbing his temples.

"Shut up, Queen. Stop being a jealous, paranoid child. Whatever's gonna happen will happen. Just breathe and take things one step at a time. Chloe loves you. And even if what you're being paranoid about ends up happening, so what?"

"What do you mean 'so what' Lane? I don't want to get pushed away," Oliver said, his whisper getting a tiny bit louder.

"She tried to push you away for months, but look at you now. She _loves _you. You've got her. You can be just as stubborn as she is Oliver. If she tries to push you away, then don't let her. She can love a child and love you too. Calm yourself down, buddy. I think you're being crazy, but if all of this does go down- you fight for Chloe and that's all there is to it," Lois said, lightly smacking Oliver upside the head.

"You really like hitting me, don't you, Lane?"

"It's fun," Lois said, nodding.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Chloe cringed as Selena yelled and pushed. Anyone who called females the weaker sex should come into a hospital room while a woman was giving birth- they'd change their opinions real quick.

"Chloe, I know that this is asking a lot, but if something happens to me would you take care of my daughter?" Selena asked in between screams. "I have this really terrible feeling like something is gonna happen."

"Why are you talking like that? Nothing's gonna happen to you, crazy lady. And what about your family?"

"I lied to you when I told you that I didn't have family close-by. I don't really have any family that I know of at all. I lied to you because I didn't want you feeling more sorry for me than you already did on that day we met. And my ex just literally took off. He left the country... Hurry up little girl, come out! You're killing me here," Selena yelled, going from addressing Chloe to addressing the baby she was trying to push out.

"Don't worry for no reason," Chloe said, trying to sound soothing. "Everything will be fine."

"Will you take care of her if something happens to me?"Selena asked again, this time slamming her fist down in pain.

"Okay, okay. Yeah. Just calm down," Chloe blurted out.

Selena grabbed Chloe's hand, and Chloe tasted blood in her mouth. Selena had a death grip on her, and Chloe was biting down on her tongue so hard because the pain was crazy. She thought her hand might break soon.

"Okay honey, that's it. Good girl. It won't be long now, Selena. You'll se your daughter soon. Keep pushing," the doctor said.

"Please hurry up little girl, I'd like to still be able to use my left hand after today," Chloe said, unheard by the others, covered up by Selena's yells of pain.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"I told you. I told you!" Tess whispered furiously. "That's one of the guys who worked for me- one of the ones who used to work for Lex- one of the ones I guarantee you is working for Lex now."

Clark picked up his phone and called Lois inside the hospital right away.

"Something's gonna go down. I guarantee it," Tess said, getting back in contact with Victor and Lana at Watchtower, making sure that they had access to the hospital's camera feed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"One of the guys who worked for Tess is on his way in here," Lois whispered to Oliver, hanging up with Clark.

"I've got a bad feeling that a whole lot of shit is about to go down," Oliver mumbled, pulling out his phone and sending a message to Bart.

"Don't be pessimistic," Lois said sarcastically.

Oliver snorted. "Don't tell me you're not thinking the same thing. I know you've got a bad feeling too."

"That's him," Lois whispered, elbowing Oliver in the ribs.

The man must have known who Lois and Oliver were because he took one quick glance at them and walked out the same way he came in.

"Stay here. I'm gonna follow him," Oliver said, getting up and heading off after the man.

Lois picked up her phone and called Clark back telling him that the man had left.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Not much longer Selena, not much longer honey. Just keep pushing," the doctor said.

Chloe was pretty sure that if Selena was able to move at the moment she would be trying to rip out the doctor's hair. Every time she told her to keep pushing Selena gave her a glare.

Chloe couldn't wait to see the baby. She was sure she would be beautiful.

Selena had completely overwhelmed her earlier when she asked her to take care of the baby if anything happened, but she understood that Selena was freaking out about everything right now because she was in so much pain.

Even though it would never come down to having to happen, even though it might be weird since they hadn't known each other for very long, a part of Chloe was pretty flattered that Selena would want Chloe to take care of her kid.

Chloe probably wouldn't have a clue how to take care of a kid, and was a little freaked out by the idea of having someone so small and fragile to care for and protect, and help shape into a good person, but it was kind of an honour to have been asked even though it scared the crap out of her.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Shit!" Lois muttered to herself. The guy who worked for Lex was back and Oliver was nowhere to be found. She guessed Oliver lost him somewhere along the way.

The man was approaching her now, and Lois reached into her purse trying to grab anything she could use against him in case he decided to go psycho on her in the hospital's empty waiting room.

Instead of stopping where she was, the man walked past Lois to the women at the counter.

He told them something that Lois couldn't hear and then each of the women left their spots at the counter and left the area- leaving Lois alone in the room with the man.

He was walking back towards her now.

Lois dialled Clark's number and dropped the phone into her purse as the man got closer and closer.

_This is not going to go very well for me._

He was standing in front of her now. He gave her a smile and she returned it with a fake one.

The man moved quickly but Lois was anticipating that some crap was going to go down, so she was able to block his first blow and knock him backwards.

He recovered quickly and got back up.

Lois got distracted for just a second hearing Selena's loudest shriek yet. The baby must have finally come out.

The man took advantage of the second's distraction and threw Lois into the wall, causing her to hit her head hard and black out momentarily.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"She's here. Chloe, she's here," Selena said, smiling through tears.

"She's beautiful," Chloe said, looking at the baby in awe, as the doctor checked her to see if there was anything obviously wrong.

"You'll get to hold her in a couple minutes, honey," the doctor said over the baby's crying. "I've just got to check some things out and then you can hold your little girl."

Selena nodded, wiping her eyes.

"That's actually not going to happen."

All of the women in the room turned to see who had come into the room.

"That baby is coming with me," the man who had just knocked Lois out said.

"Like hell," Selena said, trying to get up.

"We have no more use for you. The baby is born," he said, pulling out a gun and shooting Selena.

Chloe's jaw dropped.

The man then turned to Chloe and the doctor, pointing the gun.

"Hand the child over," the man demanded.

"No way," Chloe said, trying not to cry as she watched the blood pour out of Selena.

The man shot one of the machines in the room to show them that he meant business.

The doctor started to walk forward. She was going to give him the baby!

Chloe grabbed the heaviest thing she could find and threw it straight at the man's head, knocking him to the ground for a moment. He may have fallen, but that didn't stop him from taking a shot at Chloe as she took the baby from the doctor and ran. The man fired another shot, this time at the doctor who Chloe had shoved as she took the baby.

Just as Chloe was about to get out the door, the man caught her foot.

Chloe was getting ready to kick him when two other pairs of feet did it instead.

Oliver and Bart.

"Everything's okay," they said, as Oliver knelt down and tazerd the man.

Chloe tried to catch her breath as she checked the baby for anything that might be obviously wrong.

"Remember Tess' theory?" Oliver said. "I'm 99.9% sure that you're holding Davis' daughter right now."

Chloe wasn't hearing anything that was being said. Her eyes had moved to Selena, dead in the hospital bed.

_Selena's dead. Oh my God. She's dead. I have to make sure the baby is okay. I have to take care of her now. I promised her I would... Calm down. How do I take care of a baby? How am I supposed to take care of her? I don't know how to do this. What if I screw up? What if I screw her up?... Shut up. It'll be fine. Stop thinking right now, just focus on making sure that the baby is okay right now._

Chloe looked back down at the baby. She looked perfect. She was adorable and Chloe just realized that she wasn't crying at all anymore. The baby looked content. She looked like she was fine. Chloe felt immense relief, as she pulled the baby closer.

Oliver sighed. _Yeah, I think I'm already jealous of a baby._

"Apparently this is Davis' kid or something," Bart said. "You guys need to fill me in because I am _so _lost right now. Come on gorgeous, let's get you out of here," Bart told Chloe.

Chloe's eyes went back to Selena and she had to wipe her eyes again. Nothing was registering with her.

"There's nothing you can do for her, Chloe," Oliver said gently.

He didn't think Chloe had heard anything either of them had said.

"Let him take you out of here, Chloe," Jonn said, coming into the room. "She's dead. You can't help her. You need to go while we take care of things here."

Chloe finally snapped out of her daze when Jonn came in. Before Chloe could make any objections, Lois , Clark and Tess walked into the room too.

"I'll come with you," Lois said and Chloe finally nodded.

Bart and Clark took off with Chloe and Lois and the baby.

They were brought to Emil's house. And it was only when Clark and Bart had let them go that Chloe cursed herself.

"I'm so stupid. Shouldn't be speeding around with a baby."

Clark and Bart looked like they felt pretty stupid too.

"Sorry. I didn't think about that, 'Licious," Bart said, dashing off.

"What the hell, cuz?" Lois said, looking at Chloe's arm for the first time.

"What?" Chloe asked. "Am I holding her wrong?"

"You're bleeding, babe," Lois sad. "Did you get shot?"

It was only as Lois asked this that Chloe started to feel an immense pain in her arm.

Clark pulled up Chloe's sleeve and winced a bit. "You _did _get shot, Chloe."

"Oh wow," Chloe said, blinking "I didn't even feel it until now."

"Okay Clark, take Little Miss Beautiful from Chloe for a minute so I can get her out of this nasty bloody shirt. I'm sure doctor boy has an extra shirt around here somewhere" Lois said, as Emil finally walked through his own door.

"I'm not a paediatrician, but I can tell if all the important things are okay," Emil told Chloe.

"Okay," Chloe said, nodding..

"There's some t-shirts in the third drawer in the next room," Emil said.

She was confused. She honestly didn't know if she was awake right now or not. None of this could have really happened, right?

Selena couldn't be dead, right?

Was she actually holding a baby right now? Was the beautiful baby actually staring at her right now?

Emil took the baby from Chloe.

Lois pulled Chloe into a different room as the baby started to cry.

The crying brought Chloe back to her senses. _Yes_, this all was real.

Just as Bart brought Oliver over and rushed off himself again, Chloe walked back into the other room, and over to Emil. She took one of the baby's tiny hands in her own and the girl stopped crying.

"It's okay cutie," Chloe said. "Don't be scared. I don't know how to do this, but I'm gonna take care of you. Everything's gonna be fine. I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to you, I promise."

Clark, Oliver and Emil all exchanged looks, thinking the same thing, but not saying anything out loud. _Yeah, that's Davis' kid alright. Like father like daughter. Look how Chloe can calm her down. Look how she made her stop crying_.

"She'll be fine, Chlo," Lois said, taking Chloe into the next room again.

It took Oliver a second to notice Chloe's bloody shirt "You got shot?" he asked her, moving towards her quickly.

"Apparently," she said, wincing a bit as Lois removed Chloe's shirt.

The baby started to cry again.

"Lo, can you just go stay with her for a minute. I'll be there soon."

Lois nodded.

Chloe couldn't really walk into the next room with just her bra and no shirt on.

"You help her get this on," Lois said, grabbing a shirt from the drawer and handing it to Oliver before heading back to the other room.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked her quietly, gently tracing the skin away from where she had been shot.

"I didn't even feel it until a minute ago," she said, taking a deep breath.

"It's the adrenaline. There was a rush. So much happened. I don't think it's that crazy that you didn't feel it until now," Oliver said, manoeuvring the shirt onto Chloe's body carefully.

"She didn't even get to hold her, Ollie. The doctor was doing those immediate check-up things and then he just walked in. He said that the baby was going with him and then he shot Selena. And then he shot one of the machines and the doctor was gonna give him the baby, but I picked up the heaviest thing I saw and I threw it at the guy, and then I grabbed the baby and he shot at me. I just didn't think I got hit and then he shot the doctor," Chloe said, rubbing her head, feeling dizzy.

"I'm really sorry for everything that went down," Oliver said.

"I thought she was just being crazy, but Selena said that she had a really bad feeling that something was gonna happen and she asked me to take care of the baby if anything happened to her. She doesn't even have any family and the boyfriend left the country. I'm all the baby has," Chloe said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

"We'll figure things out, don't worry," Oliver said, rubbing her hand.

The expression on Chloe's face changed. It looked like she just figured something out.

"Oh my God, Tess was right, wasn't she? Why else would someone come in and kill Selena and try to take the baby? The baby is Davis's daughter, isn't she? This has Lex written all over it."

"I think so, Sidekick," Oliver said. "That's what I was telling you at the hospital."

"I wasn't really hearing anything. I kind of couldn't even think back there," Chloe said.

"What are you thinking right now, Sullivan?"

"I'm thinking about making sure that that baby has everything she needs and how Lex and his little bastard employees are never getting anywhere near her again."

"I'll help you however I can. Everyone will," Oliver assured her.

Chloe just nodded, still trying to come to terms with everything.

"Let's get Emil to fix your arm up," Oliver said.

"I've never actually been here before," Chloe said, looking around.

"He's got his own super mini hospital set-up here. He can deal with your arm," Oliver told her, as they walked back into the other room.

Chloe was just still in complete shock. She knew it was all real, but she couldn't believe anything.

"Where did you all come from? Why were you all at the hospital?" Chloe asked going back to the baby and holding her hand, finally wondering why so many of them were at the hospital and who was at Watchtower right now. "Who's at Watchtower?"

"We had a feeling that Little Miss Beautiful here might be that baby that Tess was talking about," Lois said, taking a seat with the baby.

"Me and Tess watched outside of the hospital. And Oliver and Lois watched inside. Lana and Victor kept an eye on things at Watchtower," Clark explained.

"When I got a really bad feeling about shit hitting the fan, I gave Bart a call and he called Jonn. Bart sped off and grabbed Dinah and brought her back to Watchtower, and just after he brought me here he was bringing Victor to the hospital. Jonn's going to wipe everyone's memory who might have seen anything. Victor's going to erase the camera footage and Bart's doing a quick clean-up of everything and then he's going to go get A.C. and bring him to help deal with the bodies and bring Lana here to you. Tess is trying to see if she can find anything else out," Oliver said.

"Okay," Chloe said, nodding. "We have to bury Selena...What happened to the shooter?" A big part of her was hoping he was somehow dead.

"When he came to again, he grabbed the gun and shot himself," Oliver told her. "I think he was probably more afraid of Lex than anything."

"Was Selena playing me this whole time?" Chloe wondered out loud. "The baby probably isn't even hers."

"It sort of looks that way," Oliver said.

"No," Chloe said quietly. "She really thought that baby was hers. Lex must have screwed with her somehow. She wasn't playing games. She loved the baby. She wanted her. They must have messed with her head," Chloe sighed.

"We'll deal with all those possibilities later. I need to deal with your arm right now," Emil told Chloe.

"She needs to eat, right? We need formula or something, right? It's not like Selena can feed her," Chloe said. "Emil, we need to get her food. You're the doctor- tell me what to do," Chloe said, not really caring about herself at the moment.

"Chloe, she'll be fine for a little while. Don't worry about that. I need to deal with your arm and make sure it's not going to get infected too. I'm dealing with you first, and then we'll deal with the baby, okay. I swear, she's fine right now. Lois got her to calm down after a minute so she's fine with her."

Chloe was about to say something, but Emil cut her off. "You know what, I'm going to send Oliver and Clark to the store, okay? They'll go pick up some formula for newborns and we'll have that by the time I'm done with you, and then we'll make sure she has a bottle."

"Okay. That sounds fine," Chloe said, finally following Emil.

"Does it actually say newborn formula on the stuff?" Oliver asked Clark as they left.

"I have no clue," Clark told him.

"We'll figure it out, right? If the two of us can't figure out baby formula, then we're pretty dumb."

Lois sat on the couch with the baby in her arms. "You're quite the special one, aren't you? You've got my cousin's world spinning right now, beautiful. She's really scared right now, but she's gonna make sure you're happy. Try to be a good girl. We don't want her to get even more stressed, okay?" Lois said, tickling the baby's toes. "I know you can't talk, but when you can you can call me Auntie Lo. I don't think you only stole Chloe's heart today. I think you might have just taken a piece of mine too," Lois said, smiling. "I think you're gonna be just fine."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Where the hell is he?" Lex yelled. "He should have been back here with the baby by now."

"He's dead, Mr. Luthor. He didn't get the baby. I'm pretty sure the child is with Miss Sullivan."

Lex smashed his fist down onto the table in frustration.


	26. Chapter 26

**o-0-o-0-o**** Hey everyone. I'm sorry for this taking so long to get posted but I was stuck for awhile on some parts. I'm gonna try to update sooner next time, it's just hard sometimes with school work and stuff. Thanks so much to ica013, GoChlollie, morning1, hiphuggerz4ever, Raya and Danielle for reviewing the previous chapter. Please take a tiny bit of time and leave me a review to let me know what you think**** o-0-o-0-o**

Chloe's arm had been wrapped up by Emil. He said that she was pretty lucky. The bullet had just grazed her arm and she shouldn't be worried about any infection. Everything looked like it would be fine- for her arm at least.

"Just because I said your arm isn't infected and that the bullet only grazed your arm it doesn't mean you should constantly be holding the baby. You need to rest your arm, Chloe. You are _definitely_ not doing that," Emil said, sighing tiredly.

"Well, she wants to be held," Chloe said, looking down at the baby.

"That, and you just don't _want_ to let her go," Emil responded. "There's several other people in the room who can hold her."

"Yeah, well, no offense, but she _clearly_ doesn't want to be held by any of you," Chloe said, shifting the baby slightly in her arms.

All the guys could do was shrug. It was true, the baby did not seem to want anyone but Chloe or Lois to hold her. And Lois was not here right now because she and Clark had to run off for some Daily Planet assignment.

"Maybe she just doesn't like men," Lana said, walking into Emil's with Bart. "Why don't you give me a try with her?"

"Hey," Chloe said, sending her friend a tired smile.

"Quite the day, huh?" Lana said, returning the smile sadly, reaching for the baby.

Chloe carefully passed her over. "Oh, I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing unusual or major happened today," Chloe said, trying to laugh, but not managing it. "My friend gave birth today, to a child that's probably not actually hers- she got shot in the hospital bed not even two minutes after delivering this little girl and then she died. I got shot at when I wouldn't let the doctor hand the baby over to be kidnapped by a psychopath who works for Baldy the Bastard, and now I'm the guardian of this adorable baby who just happens to be my dead ex-almost boyfriend's daughter... Just another ordinary day," Chloe said, sighing, rubbing her head.

No one was surprised when the crying started. As expected, the second the baby left Chloe's arms she started to cry.

"It's okay. It's okay. Don't cry. Lana's cool, I promise. _Definitely_ cooler than the boys," Chloe said, talking to the baby.

"Just give me a minute or two," Lana said. "She'll trust me soon enough. She'll feel comfortable in a minute."

"And why do you think she's gonna trust you over us males, pretty lady?" Bart asked.

"Because she doesn't scare me. I'm not freaked out by her, and all of you guys are" Lana said, smirking a bit.

"We're not scared and freaked out," Oliver said defensively.

Chloe let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh _yes _you guys are," she told them. "Lana's got that right... None of you were fans of Davis and you don't know what to think of the baby. She can tell you're not her number 1 fans, especially you, Ollie."

No one responded to that. It was true and Oliver, Bart, Victor, A.C. and Emil couldn't deny it. It was the same with Clark. Chloe could tell he was uncomfortable, but she knew he had tried not to be. Bart along with Clark was making an effort, more so than the others, but it was clear how uncomfortable they still were.

"She's still crying, Pretty," Bart teased.

"I told you to give me a minute or two," Lana responded.

Chloe watched on, slightly amused amidst a lot of sadness and nervousness and anger. She knew that the baby would warm to Lana and she wanted to see the looks on the guys' faces when she did.

Chloe felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, so she pulled it out to see who was calling. It was Dinah.

"Hey Dinah," Chloe answered.

"How are you handling everything?" the other woman asked.

"I'm still wondering if this day actually happened," Chloe told her.

"Well, I just wanted to call and let you know that our new friend Tess is getting quite comfy here at the clubhouse," Dinah said.

"Did you seriously just call Chloe?" Tess said in the background.

"Comfortable how?" Chloe asked, cringing, picturing Tess trying to re-arrange things.

"She's moving stuff around," Dinah said.

"Pass me to her," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

Dinah smirked as she passed the phone to Tess.

"She's over-exaggerating, Chloe," Tess said, not bothering with a hello.

"I'm gonna say this one time, Tess, and one time only. If you wanna be a good guy now and play on our team, I'm all for it. In fact, I'm actually pretty happy about it. But there are rules. _Nobody _moves things around or tries to re-arrange things, _ especially _the new girl. Put back whatever you moved around, make sure it's back where I had it or so help me God I will kick your ass."

Chloe could hear Dinah laughing.

"Okay crazy, will do," Tess said, and Chloe bet she was rolling her eyes.

"Welcome to the team," Chloe said drily.

Tess snorted. "Yeah, bye Chloe."

Chloe got off the phone and everyone was staring at her, trying not to laugh.

A.C. walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Have I ever told you that I absolutely love you, Tower?" he laughed.

"Oh shut up," Chloe said, unable to keep from smiling a bit.

"Boys," Lana said, drawing their attention to her. "I do believe I said I'd get the cutie to calm down- and would you look at this- she's not crying anymore," Lana said, grinning happily.

There was eye rolling and frowning from the guys in the room.

Chloe took this moment to slip out of the room. She just needed a couple minutes to herself to think and splash some water on her face.

Everything had all happened so quickly today. One minute Selena was smiling and eagerly awaiting the second she could hold her daughter, and then she was dead in the next minute.

They had buried her body only two hours earlier- not very long after Oliver and Clark had got back from getting baby formula at the store.

Chloe was now responsible for someone else's life. Chloe was going to be someone's parent. Chloe was going to be Davis' daughter's parent. Everything was all so surreal. She was still having trouble believing that everything was really happening. Chloe was scared, there was no other way to put it. She was terrified that she was somehow going to mess up and fail this child.

It wasn't affection that was the problem at all. Chloe adored the baby, absolutely adored her. That was pretty much instantaneous; she just didn't know how good she was going to be at taking care of her. Chloe felt somewhat relieved by the fact that the baby seemed to adore her right back.

She wondered if the baby liking her so much had anything to do with the fact that she was Davis' daughter. Did she have the same calming effect on her as she had had on Davis? And then the next question popped into her head. Is this beautiful baby even fully human?

Chloe couldn't answer any of her own questions. The only thing she knew for sure was that she needed to go see Davis. Going anywhere right now was not going to be easy. No one was going to let her out of their sight. That actually wasn't a problem for Chloe right now, though. She had a baby depending on her, so she would push her pride and stubbornness aside and agree to having someone with her in case something bad happened.

She didn't even notice him approaching, but all of the sudden, Oliver was next to her.

He was saying something to her, Chloe was sure, but she wasn't really paying attention. Instead, she leaned her head against him for a minute and just closed her eyes.

This was the closest she'd been to him since they got back from their little getaway so he had no intention of moving any time soon.

Chloe pulled away fairly quickly, though. "I need to go somewhere," she said.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"_We're_ not going anywhere, Ollie-"

"Do you _actually _ think you're going somewhere alone?" Oliver asked, his voice getting louder. She had to be insane if she thought she was going to go anywhere without at least another person with her.

"I didn't say I was going anywhere alone- and lower your voice," she told him, annoyed.

"So _ I'm _ just not going with you? Why the hell are you doing this again? Why are you trying to push me away? We're supposed to be passed that stuff," Oliver said, full of a feeling of absolute desperation. He was right. Hadn't he said that she was going to try to push him away?

"It's not just you who's not coming. Neither is Victor or A.C. And I'm not pushing you away, so stop being weird. I don't have the energy to be dealing with you concocting situations in your head. I have bigger things to worry about in case you haven't been paying attention," she told him angrily.

She felt more annoyed with him than any of the other guys. She was still kind of stuck on all their reactions to the baby, But Oliver being so uncomfortable with the baby made her angrier than any of the others had. She was annoyed with them, but she was mad at him. He made _no _effort to hide the fact that he was less than thrilled to have the baby around. At least the others had tried to hide their feelings to various extents. This baby wasn't going anywhere. Chloe was responsible for her. How was she supposed to feel when her boyfriend couldn't even be bothered to try to like the baby that was now going to be a permanent fixture in her life? She didn't want to lose him, but this baby was her ultimate concern right now. She loved him so much. She wanted him to be okay with the baby. He went from telling her they'd all help take care of the baby, to not even wanting to look at her.

Oliver took a deep breath. "And _why_ are we not coming?" he asked her.

"Victor has to head out of town. You and A.C. are going to be patrolling. I'm bringing Lana and Bart with me. Get off my case," Chloe said, brushing passed him.

"You guys mind keeping me company? I've got somewhere I need to go," Chloe said, approaching Lana and Bart.

"You're going to see Davis, aren't you?" Oliver asked, coming back into the room.

"Excuse me?" Chloe said, a little shocked. How did he know anything about Davis?

"I know you had him buried," Oliver told her. "I heard you talking to him. I know you went to his grave."

"If I actually did, how would you know that?"

"I put a camera on you. We had fought and I was worried about you and since you wouldn't talk to me, I decided to make sure with my own eyes and ears that everything was okay. I heard everything you said- how Clark always came first, how you would have killed him to keep Clark safe, how even though you'd never put him before Clark you _did _love him."

Chloe took a deep breath. "Do you have a point you're trying to make? If you do, how about you get to it," Chloe said, far beyond annoyed with Oliver.

"The point is that I know where you're going. You don't need to keep it a secret from me, so there's no reason for me not to come."

"You're patrolling," Chloe said, trying to keep calm.

"Bart, change of plan. You're gonna patrol instead of me tonight," Oliver said.

"No, he's not," Chloe said through clenched teeth. "I'm not comfortable with you coming, Ollie. I want Bart to go with me."

_I'm not going to let you push me away._

"It's my call, Sidekick. I'm the boss, remember? And now that I'm thinking about it, I want you back at Watchtower tonight. I'm not comfortable with Canary and Tess guiding the patrols. That's your job. You should be doing it," Oliver said, smirking, but wondering what the hell he was doing. He was being a jerk.

"What the hell is your problem, Oliver?" Lana asked him angrily. She did not like the tone he was taking with Chloe right now.

"_Wow, _ you're a fucking asshole, Queen," Chloe said, her fists clenched.

"Bart, why don't you bring Chloe back to Watchtower now?" Oliver said, ignoring Chloe.

"I'm not going to Watchtower," Chloe said.

"Yeah you are."

"No I'm not."

"_Yes_ you are."

"No, I'm not. What're you gonna do, huh Ollie? You gonna _fire _me, boss?" Chloe hissed.

"I _could,_" Oliver said, continuing to act like a complete moron. _How the hell is this doing anything to help getting pushed away?_

"Go ahead, Arrow. I _dare _you," Chloe taunted.

"Just to put it out there, if you're actually stupid enough to fire her I'm done with you," Bart told Oliver, completely serious.

"Let's go, Lana," Chloe said, walking out the door. Lana followed her with the baby.

Oliver started to follow, but A.C. grabbed his arm.

"Leave her alone, man," Victor said.

"You're such a dumbass, man," Bart said to Oliver. "Is your goal for her to break up with you? It must be, because you'd have to be all kinds of stupid to think that you saying those things was going to do anything but piss her off," Bart said, leaving too.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Oliver?" A.C. asked.

Oliver smashed his fist into the wall and Emil just sighed.

"That baby is ruining everything," Oliver muttered. "She's pushing me away already."

"It's pretty clear that you're jealous of the baby and are not crazy about her, but what the hell do you think keeping Chloe from bringing the baby to where her father is would accomplish for you? What did you think you were going to accomplish by trying to go with her when she was clearly uncomfortable with the idea? It's not like she was leaving alone. She had speedy and strong back-up with her. I think you lost your mind a bit there," Victor said, just shaking his head at how stupid Oliver had been. "If anything, it looked like you were trying to push her away. She wasn't trying to fight with you, and you were just being a jerk, especially with the boss comment. You don't pull that crap with us Oliver. That's not you, and you shouldn't have done it, especially with her."

"I love her," was all Oliver said before walking out the door. A.C. followed him and yelled back at Vic. "I'd leave as fast as I could if I were you, man. Get away from the drama and onto your plane."

"I don't need to be told twice. I'm out of here," Victor said. "Good luck dealing with them."

"I'm sure I'm gonna have a massive headache very soon," A.C. said, not looking forward to the next time Chloe and Oliver were in the same room.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I want you to find out where Gabe and Moira Sullivan are these days," Lex said, turning to one of his employees.

"Chloe Sullivan's parents?"

"Yes."

"Why do you want me to find them?"

"Well, I don't have a baby to hold over Chloe's head like I had planned, and her little gang is always in at least pairs so it's not as easy to get to her through them anymore- I need to get at her in a different way. Mommy and Daddy seem like a pretty good way to go as a substitute, don't you think? Chloe wouldn't let anything happen to her parents," Lex said, cracking his knuckles.


	27. Chapter 27

**o-0-o-0-o Here's the new chapter. It's taken quite awhile. School's been killing me. So here's another chapter starting with a SORRY lol. I really will try to update it sooner but I can't guarantee anything because I have finals coming up. Thanks so much to Whatever-the-weather, jj, GoChlollie, Danielle, Raya, morning1, and jimmel for leaving reviews/comments. Hope you'll enjoy the chapter. Please take a tiny bit of time and leave a review and let me know what you think : ) o-0-o-0-o**

"Why didn't you go after her parents from the beginning?" the young man asked.

"Chloe's little crew and Lois are a part of her everyday life. Her parents aren't. I thought she'd be more immediately affected by something happening to the ones she sees most often. _That, _and I had briefly looked into finding her parents but no information had popped out at me. Why put in the effort to look for them when I could have used the people that Chloe loves who I already know are close-by?" Lex said.

"If you didn't have any luck finding them before, why do you want me to try now?"

"I didn't do any kind of in- depth searching before. You're going to do that this time. Chloe's people hardly ever go anywhere alone anymore so it will be a bit more of a hassle to use them to get to Chloe, so we're going back to the parents. Now shut up and stop asking me stupid questions," Lex said, narrowing his eyes at his employee.

"One more question, then I'll shut up and get out of here and start looking for Chloe Sullivan's parents. Are you really done with the baby? You did a lot to bring that baby into existence. I mean you got Davis Bloom's special stuff. You'd already did the whole egg extraction procedure even before that, and you found that Selena woman and got my now dead co-worker to play with her mind and got her to become the surrogate. You can't really be done with that child," the man said, a little nervous that he may have spoken rudely.

"This is the last thing I'm saying, and then you're going to scurry off and actually do something useful. Of course I'm not really done with that baby. I just can't use it right now, and I have no access to it. I'll have Chloe and that baby here eventually. I want to see how that baby is going to turn out. Is she human? Is she going to be super strong? I can't wait to see what I can do with her. There's your answer. Now go away."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Bart and Lana stood a little ways away, talking to each other but kept their ears open and eyes on Chloe. They weren't listening to what she was saying because she had wanted a bit of privacy, but they kept their eyes on her and the baby.

"Hey. I'm back. Feels like I was just here yesterday," Chloe said quietly to Davis, taking a seat, shifting the baby slightly in her arms. "A lot of stuff has happened since the last time I came here... I stopped pushing Oliver away. We got together- like couple together. I want to wring his neck at the moment, but that's beside the point. I feel more like myself again now compared to before. I've been happy even though there's a lot of stuff going on. Lex Luthor is after me. He's also after someone else. I brought her here with me. I needed to bring her here- I needed to bring her to you. She's yours. Crazy stuff, I know, but she's yours. You have a daughter, Davis. She's beautiful, and she's so small, and I swear I'm not going to let anything happen to her. She's put a spell on me- this little girl. I love her, I really do. She hasn't even been in this world for 24 hours yet, but I swear, if something were to happen to her- it would haunt me for the rest of my life. I don't know how to explain it really, but she just feels so special. I think the boys think I'm crazy for how attached to her I feel, but I loved her before I figured out that she was yours. She's not special to me just because she's your daughter. I guess it's because I was there when she was born. I don't know how to explain it, I just feel this immense amount of love for her. I just wanted to tell you not to worry about anything. I'm gonna take really good care of her," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

"Her name is Rina, by the way. You should be happy about that one," Chloe said, smiling a bit. "I remember that day when we were just driving and talking about the most random things and then you started putting out names that you liked and I did the same. We had very different tastes in names for the most part, but we both loved this name... You know what's funny? I'm the one who named her. I named your kid. Selena, my friend, Rina's mom, or surrogate mom, I guess, who died today-" Chloe paused for a minute, closing her eyes, taking another deep breath. "Selena didn't know what name to pick so she told me to do it. She told me to choose a name. I thought she was kidding, but she was totally serious. I always loved the name, so I chose Rina. That works out pretty nicely now, though, considering she's yours... Things went very wrong before- with you and me and Clark and Jimmy. I've been trying to just keep the you that was good in my mind. I try not to think of all the disaster. I'm gonna be able to keep my good memories of you easier now. Looking at her, I see nothing but good, and when I look at her I think of you sometimes. I have many good memories of you, but with this baby, it's just good- pure good- there is no taint. There's innocence- pure innocence. Half of this wholly sweet child is you...Anyway, we should be going. I just wanted to come by and bring her here. She's gonna be fine. I'm gonna make sure that she's happy and healthy and that she feels loved. That's my promise to you," Chloe said, getting up, rubbing the baby's back.

"Ready to go, Licious?" Bart asked.

"Yeah, we're good to go," Chloe said.

Lana and Bart walked back over to Chloe.

"You okay?" Lana asked.

"Yeah," Chloe said. "I'm fine. I just needed to be here. I said what I needed to say."

"Are you gonna talk to Oliver tonight?" Lana asked her.

"I'm thinking that I might punch him in the face if I see him again tonight. I'm not exactly sure being around him would be a good idea," Chloe said, rolling her eyes, remembering her last interaction with him.

"Okay, let me preface this by stating that I'm firmly on your side with you being mad at him. He was being a douche-bag," Bart said. "He's acting like an idiot because he's scared, Chloe. How he was acting before with you- you know that's not him. Oliver fought hard to get you and he's really scared at the thought of losing you. He's just not thinking right. He's being an idiot because his head's messed up. And that whole 'boss' deal- he's not one to throw around the boss card with any of us, but especially not with you. Just talk to him at some point. Maybe tomorrow if you don't want to tonight. I don't always think he deserves you, but I know that he loves you more than anything and I know that you love him too. Don't let one fight on one _very_ crazy day make you forget that."

"You're very sweet," Lana commented to Bart.

"He totally is," Chloe said, smiling a little. "That's why I adore him."

"Aww ladies, you're gonna make me blush," Bart said, grinning.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"What the hell is your problem, Arrow?" Tess mumbled as she sat in Watchtower with Dinah, guiding Oliver and A.C.'s patrol. "Did you catch the asshole virus tonight or something?"

"Try the jealous, freaky idiot virus," A.C. could be heard muttering.

Dinah tried not to laugh.

"Has Chloe contacted either of you?" Oliver asked.

"If you want to know about Chloe and go tell her you're sorry, go talk to her yourself when we're done out here," A.C. said.

"Hah! He had a fight with Chloe. That explains the asshole-ness," Tess said, smirking.

"Guys, make a right on Third St," Dinah said, trying to bring things back to business. She wasn't in the mood to deal with a pissed-off Oliver tonight. She already had a headache. "See what's up over there," she said, disconnecting for A.C. and Oliver for a minute

"There's nothing there," Tess mouthed to Dinah.

"I know," Dinah said, rolling her eyes. "I have a headache and don't want to deal with a pouty Oliver."

Tess snorted.

"Whatever he did to piss her off, he better fix it. I have no desire to deal with awkward and angry Chloe and Oliver. It's not fun, trust me," Dinah said, barely above a whisper. "It's amusing for a minute or two but then you just wish it was over."

"Let's do something about it then," Tess said, with a grin and a shrug, disconnecting as Dinah reconnected. She knew that her relationship with Oliver was completely over, and there were still times she wished that that wasn't the case, but it was. Sometimes she couldn't stand Oliver, but a part of her still loved him. She wanted him to be happy in that part of herself that still cared very much about him- in that part of her that could still be selfless on occasion, and she knew that Chloe made him happy. She was feeling nice for some reason- nice and content in this new spot among these people. She pulled out her phone and proceeded with her little plan to make everything happy and calm again on Team Hero.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Please remind me to give Oliver a nice smack across the face when I see him next," Lois said to Clark, shaking her head.

"I'm guessing you just got the same message I did," Clark said, laughing a little. "You sound sure that Oliver's the one who caused the fight between him and Chloe."

"Of course I'm sure he did. And so are you. The man is all freaked out and jealous and scared that he's gonna end up losing Chloe- so naturally, because I know how Ollie is, he did something stupid and made everything worse."

"Well, I'm sure Chloe's going to forget that she's pissed off at Oliver when she hears the BS story that he's hurt."

"Yeah, and then she'll be pissed all over again when she finds out that he's fine and the bit about him being hurt was only used to get them back in the same room tonight," Lois told Clark.

"Whatever's going on between those two, I'm sure they'll fix it," Clark said.

"And if they don't?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way to fix it," Clark said, grinning.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"What's that grin for?" Dinah asked Tess with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh look happy, why don't you? I'm getting Chloe and Oliver here and then they can make up or whatever," Tess said.

"And how are you making that happen?" Dinah asked the other woman.

"Oliver's already got his message, and I'm gonna send Chloe hers in a couple minutes," Tess said.

"What message?" Dinah asked.

"That the other is hurt," Tess explained.

Dinah just shook her head and laughed. "I suggest that you duck when Chloe figures out that nothing is actually wrong. There's a chance she might throw something at you."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Patrol is over, Chloe's hurt. We need to get to Watchtower right now," Oliver said, panic in his voice, already running off.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Something happened to Ollie. We need to get to Watchtower right away," Chloe said worriedly, looking down at the message on her phone.

"You better get her back there, Bart," Lana said, trying not to grin.

Bart rolled his eyes. He didn't think this plan of Tess's was going to go so smoothly.

"Come on Gorgeous, let's get you back to the clubhouse."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Tess had timed things perfectly. Chloe arrived at Watchtower and literally five seconds later, so did Oliver.

"Where is he? What happened to him?" Chloe asked, charging in.

"She'd better be alright. Where is she?" Oliver said, kicking a huge pile of papers out of his way.

Chloe spun around and locked eyes with Oliver.

"They said you were hurt. You look perfectly fine to me, Oliver," Chloe said moving from worried, to relieved, to angry within a span of three seconds.

"Lovely to see you too, Professor," Oliver said, sighing, relieved.

Chloe saw that the pile of paper she'd organized earlier was lying scattered across the floor.

"Thanks so much for creating more work for me, _boss_," Chloe said, stuck on how Oliver had been acting earlier. "I'm gonna have to reorganize all of that now- _again._"

Bart and Dinah shot annoyed looks at Tess. Her little plan was not working. There was more fighting.

Everyone besides Chloe and Oliver was making a move to leave Watchtower.

"Whose idea was this?" Chloe asked, before anyone could leave.

"It was the newbie's idea," Dinah said, pointing to Tess.

Chloe sent her a glare and took a deep breath.

Everyone left before anyone could say anything to make them stay.

"Chloe, we need to talk."

"I'm tired, Oliver. I don't wanna do this right now. I just want to go home and lie down, and Rina needs to sleep."

"You can lie down here. You can put her to sleep here. I know there's no crib at your place. She'd just be sleeping next to you in your bed, anyway," Oliver told her, feeling a little desperate.

He hated having Chloe mad at him, absolutely hated it.

"I want to be at my own place," She told him.

"Well, _this _is your place. Watchtower is yours. It's your name on the paperwork for this place. It belongs to you," Oliver said, feeling like a helpless child trying to make her stay.

"The building is mine, everything else in it is yours. Your money bought it all- and I don't really want to be near you or your money right now. I don't know if you can tell or not, but I'm pissed off. I don't want to be near you," Chloe said, feeing exhausted.

She knew that she was being stubborn, but she didn't care. Oliver acted like a royal jerk earlier and Chloe wasn't letting that go right now.

"You don't want to be near me, huh? Then why did you rush over here when they told you that I was hurt?"

_Because the thought of something bad happening to you scares the hell out of me. Because I need you to be okay. Because I don't ever want anything bad to happen to you. Because even though I'm angry- I love you so much._

"Wanted to make sure you were okay. We need your money to keep this place up and running after all," Chloe said icily.

If he got to be a jerk before, she could be a bitch for a little while too.

"You're pissed off, I get it. I was a jerk, but don't be a bitch just for the sake of trying to piss me off or hurting me, too," Oliver said, making a move to get closer to her.

"Stay where you are, Oliver."

"Listen, I know that I acted like a stupid asshole before, and I'm sorry. I get stupid sometimes. I got scared and I got stupid. And even as I was saying the stuff I was saying, in my head I knew I was being an idiot. And throwing the boss card out there was low, I know that. And just so you know, it's not only the rest of the team who is aware that my whole 'boss' title is a load of crap, I'm fully aware of that, too. This is a team. It always has been. Always will be. You are essential to this team, and you're essential to _me. _ I need you to know that. You can be mad at me for being an asshole. I'll deal with that if I have to, but tell me that you know how important you are to me," Oliver said, almost pleading.

"I thought I did," Chloe finally said, letting a moment pass by in silence.

"Talk to me. _ Please. _Tell me what you're thinking. Tell me what you're feeling. Tell me all the ways that you're mad at me. Yell at me. Hit me if it'll make you feel better. Just don't shut me out, _please. _I fought to get you to be mine- I don't want you to leave. I don't want this to be over," he said pointing between her and himself. "We've come so far, Chlo. Don't throw it away. I broke through those walls you had up. You let me in. Don't start putting them back up again, okay? Don't do that. We were just in Italy. We had the time of our lives. We were happy. And we talked about everything. So talk to me now."

Chloe bit her lip, still angry, but softening a little. He looked desperate.

"You're not getting rid of me, Sullivan, at least not tonight. If you're staying here, I'm staying with you. If you're gonna walk home, I'm walking with you."

"If you're not going to leave me alone tonight then you're going to do something for me," she said, the desire to stay angry with him fading a little more.

"What?"Oliver asked, sounding as if he'd do anything at all she asked of him.

Chloe was unable to keep a tiny smile from forming.

"Can you go push one of the beds against the wall for me, and grab me a couple more pillows and another blanket?"

"Sure," he said immediately, heading off to do what Chloe asked.

"We're just gonna stay here tonight. Okay, little girl?" Chloe whispered. "Tomorrow we're going to deal with everything. Tomorrow we'll get stuff done. Tonight, I just want you to be happy and calm. Does that sound okay to you?"

Of course there was no answer.

"I'll take your lack of crying as a yes," Chloe said with a smile, walking into the room where Oliver went.

Chloe fought the urge to laugh. Oliver had already done everything she asked. He had moved quick. It was pretty clear he really did not want Chloe staying angry with him.

"Thanks," Chloe said, putting the baby down in the middle of the bed. She put an extra pillow at the top and bottom of the bed to act as a sort of barrier, and then folded up the blanket into a smaller piece that was more suitable for Rina.

"Why did you say that I was pushing you away before?" Chloe asked, sitting down on the bed as Oliver stood across from her. "I haven't tried to do that in awhile, Ollie."

_Ollie. That's better. She's at least a little less mad if she's calling me Ollie again._

"From the minute we saw you in the hospital with the baby you didn't pay any attention. And then back at Emil's before he fixed up your arm I told you we were all going to help- it was mostly like you were ignoring everything I was saying. It felt like you didn't want me around."

"Are you serious right now?" Chloe said, rubbing her temples. "And people say that women are the sensitive ones... I thought you understood how freaked out I was- how freaked out I still am, if we're being honest. I saw my friend die, Oliver. I saw her get killed. She gave birth to this little baby and like two minutes later she got shot by one of Lex's little assholes. When Selena was lying there in pain trying to push the baby out she asked me to take care of this baby if anything happened to her and then not long after that at all- she died! I took that baby and from that second the only thing I could focus on was her. There was a baby who had absolutely no one and she was my responsibility now. And I looked at her and she had this hold on me. I looked at her and I adored her. I was scared as hell but the only thing that was important was the baby. There's this little life that I'm responsible for now, Ollie. I wasn't expecting anything like this to happen to me. What the hell do I know about taking care of a baby? All I know is that I want to protect her and I want to make her happy. And I'm trying to figure things out. I wasn't trying to push you away, but I'm sorry if I made you feel like that. And now it's your turn to apologize."

"Haven't I already?" Oliver said, attempting a grin.

"Not for anything specific. You only apologized for being an asshole," Chloe told him, feeling a bit stubborn again.

"I'm sorry for throwing the stupid bullshit technicalities of the structure of the team in your face just to try to get my way," he said, sighing.

"That's all you're sorry for?" Chloe asked him, a little bit of anger rising back up.

"Uh," Oliver was trying to remember all of the things he'd said or done today.

"You don't think you should apologize for treating the baby like she's some sort of disease? You don't think you should apologize for opening your mouth to everyone in the room earlier and spewing bits of information on what I said when I went to see Davis the first time- things that I said that were supposed to be private? You don't think you should apologize for putting a camera on me and spying- for listening in on really private stuff?" Chloe asked, firing off question after question.

"Okay, yeah, I should apologize for the first two. I get it, okay? I know it's not the baby's fault that she's Davis' kid, and I know that there might not be anything to worry about with her. I know that she could be human. I know she might be perfectly good, but I can't be fully comfortable with her right now because we still don't have any sure answers about her, and okay I know you're thinking it so I'll just say it- yeah, I think I might be a bit jealous. You're doting on this baby because she's Davis'. You love the kid because she's Davis' daughter. And I'm sorry for blurting out what I heard you say to Davis to the others. I shouldn't have done it. But I'm not sorry for the last thing. I'm not sorry for spying on you that day. I was worried about you, and you weren't talking to me, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. I'm sorry that I listened in, but I'm never going to apologize to you for wanting to make sure you're safe," Oliver said, looking her straight in the eye.

"Rina's staying with me, Ollie. You understand that, right? This kid is now a permanent fixture in my life. She's not going anywhere. She's not bad, Ollie, I'm telling you. I know she's good. I can feel it. If you're not going to be able to act decently with her, then I don't really know what to tell you. I'm not gonna go for that. I'm not going to deal with it. I don't have the energy. Now let me correct something. I _don't _love this kid because she's Davis'. I loved her and she became the #1 priority before I figured out that she was his, so don't give me that crap. Davis is dead, Ollie. There's no need to be jealous, and there's no need to project those feelings onto the baby. I don't want you and me to be over, Oliver. I really don't. Present time, not really included- you make me happy, _so _happy. How this situation turns out is really in your hands. If you and me are gonna be over, you're gonna be the one to say that you want to break up because I don't want this to be over. You have to understand, though, that this baby isn't going anywhere, and I don't _want _ her to go anywhere," she told him, not breaking eye-contact either.

"So you're saying that I've got to love that kid if you're going to be with me, and if I don't love her I might as well break up with you?" Oliver asked her, shaking his head. "After everything we've been through, that's how you want this to end?"

"I don't want this to end. I want _you, _you idiot. I love you," Chloe said, exasperated. "You don't need to love her. I can't make you feel something that isn't there, and it wouldn't be fair of me to expect you to love her just because I do. What I need from you is not to hate her. I need you to not look at her with disdain and to not wish any bad on her. What I need from you, for her, is to be decent. If you can't to do that... If you can't do that, then yeah, I guess you might as well just break up with me. I don't need you to love her- I'll make sure she gets that, but I think she'll grow on you if you just think of her as any other baby. I won't lie, Ollie, I was counting on your support with this situation, but I'll manage without it if I have to."

"I'll buy her the stuff she needs, Chloe. You don't need to worry about that."

"I'm not talking about freakin' financial support, Oliver!" Chloe said, feeling extremely frustrated. "I'll get her what she needs, and I'll use the money Davis left behind to get her what she needs."

"What money he left behind?" Oliver asked curiously.

"Never mind that, that's not important right now. Money doesn't matter. I say I'd like your support and your mind goes to money. I'm not trying to push you away, but it's your own mind that keeps jumping to the wrong conclusions. I would have loved your help with this baby, but I'll do without it because it doesn't seem like you'll be able to give it. Do me this little thing then, find a way to manage to not be an ass. I'll be fine with her- Lois adores Rina and-"

Oliver cut her off before she could continue. "You really wanted my help?" Oliver asked her, his tone changing a bit.

"Yes," Chloe said tiredly. "But it's okay. I don't _need_ it."

"But you want it, right?" he asked her again.

"Yeah," she said, rolling her eyes.

_Okay, she's not actually trying to kick me to the curb. She _wants _my help. She still wants me. She said she loves me. She's Chloe, of course the kid's gonna become the centre of everything. She's all about protecting people, she tries to do it with us all the time- of course she's gonna go into super-protective mode because there's a baby involved. She still wants me..._

"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath.

"Okay _what?" _Chloe asked him.

"I'll be there, okay? I'll try to help. Just get us some answers about the baby, Sidekick, okay? I'll get an attitude adjustment."

Chloe softened some more. She nodded.

Relief. That is what Oliver was feeling. "You hungry?" he asked.

"A little," she answered.

"I'm gonna go throw a dinner in the microwave. Want me to heat one up for you too?"

"Yeah, thanks," she said, rubbing her eyes. She was really tired.

"No prob," Oliver said, leaving the room.

_It's good that he's gonna try. He's gonna make an effort. He loves me, and he's gonna try. That's a very good thing._

Oliver came back into the room after a moment.

"Do me a favour, Ollie. Can you just go grab me something that looks comfy to sleep in from the drawer over there so I can change into something else? I don't really want to go to sleep in what I'm wearing."

"Sure," he said, going to the other side of the room.

He came back to her holding her famous duck pyjamas.

"Cute and comfy," he said, grinning a little.

"I guess I did leave them here after all," Chloe said. "I was looking for them a few days back."

"How's your arm?" he asked her. "Does it still hurt?"

"A little, but it's not unbearable," she said, getting up and taking the pair of pants she was wearing off. She took the pyjama pants out of Oliver's hands and put them on.

She was about to pull off the shirt she was wearing but Oliver spoke first. "You want help with the top? Remember that Emil said you shouldn't really be lifting your arm too high, too much?" he asked her.

"Let's see what it feels like, first," Chloe said.

"You're so stubborn. Just let me help you get the damn shirt off, Chlo."

"Okay," Chloe mumbled.

"You're a little crazy, did you know that?" Oliver said, shaking his head, but laughing a little too.

Chloe rolled her eyes as he slowly pulled off the shirt.

As she put the button-up pyjama top on Oliver asked her something.

"Would it really have been such a bad thing if I came with you today instead of Bart?"

Chloe sighed. "It would have been really weird, Ollie. And totally uncomfortable. I'm with you now. I love _you _now, but my past with Davis- certain things are private. You get to know that I loved him, but I don't owe it to you to give you more knowledge than that. Just like you don't owe me an explanation on you and Tess. I know you loved her, that's what I have a right to know. You don't have to tell me anything else. You don't need to tell me about conversations you had and stuff like that. We can be honest with each other without divulging every single thing we've ever said and done. And it's not even just about me and Davis. Me going there today was about the baby, Ollie. There was no room for me worrying about you being angry and wary of the baby and stuff. I'm not in love with a ghost, Oliver. I did love him, but I'm here, right now, with _you. _I'll admit that there's part of my past with him that's _contributing_ to my want to make Rina's life great now. Part of me wanted to save him in the past. Part of me wanted to try to fix him. I couldn't give him the love he wanted from me because my ultimate loyalty was always with someone else, but what I _can _do now is to take care of this baby. I can love her, and I _do. _ I can make sure she's happy. I can protect her, and she's a baby Ollie- if there is something in her that's problematic I can be here, I can love her and that could make all the difference in the world. If there's something wrong. Maybe I can fix her, make her better.

"And I know what you're saying in your head now. You're saying that the reason I love her is because of him. You're saying I want to protect her because she's his. But you're wrong. I was in that delivery room. Selena put that girl's life in my hands and the second I became responsible for it, I went into protective mode. We were there in that delivery room Ollie, and she looked so calm when I was holding her. She was looking at me like she knew everything would be okay because she was with me. Davis or no Davis, Rina would have been here. I wasn't ever going to let anything happen to her. Whatever happened with me and Davis- it's just something kind of extra, you know? It's not a reason for why I'm attached to her," Chloe said quietly. "There's just this pull she has, and it was there before I knew she was his."

"Okay," he said, nodding moving a strand of stray hair out of Chloe's face.

He felt a bit better. The feeling that something was weighing him down lessened.

Chloe put her hand over his and closed her eyes for a minute. "You need to get some sleep. You have to get up early so you can prep for your meeting and head out with-"

Oliver looked down at her and laughed. "After this day of craziness you still remember my business schedule. You've got quite the memory on you, Sullivan."

"It's a good thing I do, because yours can really suck sometimes," she said in a teasing tone.

"Don't ever let me find out what it's like without you, okay?" Oliver said, quieter and more serious.

"I don't have any plans on going anywhere, Ollie. I don't _want _to go anywhere. Just work with me. Make an effort, and I swear I'll always be with you," she told him, placing a small kiss on his cheek. "This is where I want to be."


	28. Chapter 28

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks so much to Raya, Hellzz-on-Earth, Danielle, ica013, Bree, morning1 and Go-Chlollie for reviewing the last chapter. Okay guys, so there's not going to be any more of this once a month update crap that's been going on for the past little bit with me lol, I should definitely have more time to update. You won't be waiting too long anymore. Here's the new chapter. It's not packed with Chlollie, but I really kind of adore it. Hope you'll enjoy it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o**

Chloe opened her eyes and turned her gaze onto the baby that was asleep next to her on the bed- except the baby wasn't there.

Chloe shot up in the bed and dashed out of the room with her heart thundering inside of her chest.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief and let herself slide down into a sitting position against one of Watchtower's walls.

Rina was in Watchtower's kitchen with Clark. Clark was giving her a bottle.

"Well, I've discovered that there's a faster way than coffee to wake me up- all we need to do is scare me to death," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Clark said, sending Chloe a smile.

Chloe got up from her spot on the ground and walked over to Clark and the baby. "I didn't expect to be seeing this," Chloe said happily, giving Clark a gentle nudge.

Clark shrugged. "I've been here for a couple hours. Oliver called me, he didn't want to leave you alone and asked me to come by, which worked pretty well for me since I wanted to come see you anyway. Because I've got awesome hearing_,_ I heard the tiniest noise of this one waking up," he said pointing down at Rina, "so I walked over to see if everything was okay. She seemed fine, but it looked like there was something she wanted. She looked at you and I thought that she might start crying so that you would wake up and give her what she wanted, but you looked pretty peaceful and I thought you could use all the sleep you can get after what's happened recently.

"I didn't want her to wake you up so I practically begged a baby, _this _baby, not to cry. I told her I'd figure out what she wanted as long as she let you sleep. And then she was just staring at me as if she was telling me 'okay idiot, I'm quiet- get me what I want.' I didn't figure it out fast enough apparently, because then she opened her mouth and I knew she was going to start crying so I rushed and I picked her up and I sped her out of the room. She started to cry a bit, pretty quietly, but then we had a little chat- well _I _chatted- and finally she stopped crying and then my brain started to work and I figured that she was probably hungry."

"You had a chat, huh?" Chloe asked, grinning, taking Rina from Clark. "What was the topic?"

"Me kind of being a jerk, and how that was going to change" Clark said, shrugging."I know you weren't really thrilled with me yesterday and my general reaction to her. I could tell that you were pretty disappointed at how uncomfortable all the guys were. I imagine you were hoping for a better reaction, especially from me and Oliver. I wanted to call you last night and say sorry, but I thought it would be better to wait until today so I could see you instead... I know that Rina's just a baby, but the fact that half of her DNA is Davis' just kept setting alarms off, you know? But I can't go around basing an opinion on 'what ifs' and I thought, even if she is like Davis, it doesn't mean that she's completely like him, maybe she'd just be more like me and maybe I could help her, and maybe what she'd get from Davis would just be an immense love for _you. _And when I thought of things like that, it didn't sound so bad at all. So I just wanted to tell you that we really _do_ need to learn more about her, we can't avoid doing that and you know it, but I also just wanted to say I'll be here, okay? I'll help you however I can."

"Come with me," Chloe told Clark, walking back into the room she had been sleeping in.

"What is it?" Clark asked her, following.

Chloe put Rina down on the bed and pulled Clark into a hug. "I just really wanted to give you a big hug. You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that."

"This is the perfect way to start my day," Clark said, chuckling, hugging her back.

"So you wanted to talk to me today, and _I_ need to talk to _you_, too," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

"What's up?" he asked her. "Oh wait," he said, pulling something out from his pocket. "Oliver said to give this to you. He had left and then came back to give it to me. He said he didn't have a right to still have this."

Clark handed Chloe what was in his pocket. "Okay, continue," he said, moving back to his conversation with Chloe.

"Can you grab my laptop out of my bag over there, please?" Chloe asked. "Okay, now as to what I was going to ask- there's something I need to get and it's out of town. Could you come with me?"

"Sure," Clark said, bringing over Chloe`s laptop. "What do you need to get?"

"Money- the money Davis left behind for me," Chloe said, hoping that Clark's reaction wouldn't be a bad one.

"Oh," Clark said.

"You still on board to keep me company?" Chloe asked, hoping the answer would be yes.

Clark nodded as Chloe inserted what Clark had handed her into her computer.

Chloe could tell that he wanted to ask her something. She should probably explain.

"When Davis and I ran out of town, there was no intention of ever coming back here, no intention to let anyone ever find us, but part of him was a little paranoid that somehow you guys might find us. If that ever happened, he figured that you guys would have finally discovered some way to finally end him once and for all- and he was worried that you guys wouldn't accept me anymore. He was worried that I'd be all alone and I'd be feeling like I had no one left in this town... He said that if anything were to happen he didn't want me to have to be stuck in Smallville if I couldn't stand to be there anymore, so he put away a whole bunch of money for me to use for whatever I needed to get out of town, or even if I chose to stay in Smallville, just for me to have for whatever I needed. He said I'd taken care of him and he just wanted to do the same for me... I've never had any intentions of using that money for a bunch of reasons. But Rina's here now, and she's his- so I'm going to go get the money and I'm gonna use some of it to get her the stuff she needs and I'm gonna get some of that on my own too, just because I want to, and the rest of the money I'm gonna put away for her and save it for her until she's older."

"You had this whole completely different life for awhile," Clark said reflectively.

"I did," Chloe said, nodding.

Clark remained quiet for a moment until he heard a little "oh wow," come for Chloe.

"What is that?" he asked her, referring to whatever she had inserted into the laptop.

"Come sit,' Chloe said. "Maybe you should actually see this. I know that we kind of went into this already, but I don't know if you really believed me when I tried to explain Davis and my feelings and why I did what I did- this here is me being completely open and vulnerable," Chloe said quietly. "Ollie and I had had a fight a few days before the stuff on this video and I was still messed up back then. I ended up at Davis's grave that night and I just kind of spilled my guts, I just had to verbalize some things... Anyway the point is I went there alone. No one was supposed to know. Ollie got sneaky because he was kinda worried about me since I had been avoiding him, so he just wanted to make sure I was okay, but he learned a whole lot of stuff that I'd never spoken out loud and never intended for him or anyone else to hear. He had put a tiny camera on me without me knowing, and this is what he saw and heard... Maybe this can finally just put this all to rest. Maybe you'll really understand, if you don't already."

Clark took a seat next to Chloe as she turned the volume on her computer higher.

"Ignore the part about me and Ollie in bed," Chloe said sheepishly before closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again she gave Rina's tiny hand a gentle squeeze to tell her that she hadn't forgotten about her.

Clark took a deep breath and focused his attention onto the playing video of Chloe at Davis' grave.

_"I try not to think about you, I really do. It's too much to handle, having you in my thoughts. I mean, the thought of you just triggers so much. And for the longest time I tried to just keep my thoughts of you restricted to 'murderer, meant to kill my best friend, tried to kill me, liar, monster, ruiner of my life.'... Ummm, that's what I've tried to do, but other things kinda always wash up with it, but I just push them away. I'm starting to think that I just have to say it all- and say it to you. I think you- and what I've kept inside is keeping a part of me just crazy messed up. I don't know... Ummm, so here it is. Oliver and Clark were idiots last year. Oliver for saying that I ran off with you cuz I loved you. And Clark was an idiot for thinking that I couldn't love you. But both of them were right, just not in that particular situation._

_"Oliver was right in that I kinda did love you. Clark was right in his thinking that I'd never betray my friends for you, because I_ never _did and I never would... I shouldn't have married Jimmy because he wasn't the only one on my mind or in my heart, especially after you kissed me. I don't know if I loved you when I married Jimmy, but I know that I was feeling something strong for you. And I've tried to brush it off as something that resulted because of Brainiac, but that's a bunch of bullshit because I still felt something strong, I felt the pull and connection to you after Brainiac was out of my system._

_"I mean honestly, what __wasn't __there about you to be attracted to? You were freaking gorgeous. You were really into me. You were there when I needed you and you were a good guy, and you were sweet to me. We had this connection, and I can say it now, because there's nothing left to lose. We had this connection pretty much since we first met. I tried to keep a certain distance from you because I was with Jimmy... I don't even know what I'm saying- what I'm doing... When I found out about you, you know like Doomsday you and then you came to see me, Oh my God, you scared me and I felt evil and like I was a fool for not believing Jimmy. And for a minute there, when you came to see me at Isis that day, I thought you were after me too. I was scared and then when you caught me after I tried to run from you, you told me you loved me and you said you needed to know if I cared about you. And then I told you that I had thought that I did. And then you asked me to help you die and I agreed, but when we got there, it was hard._

_"It was so hard, because I had seen your face. I had seen how you hated the things that you did. A monster, a truly bad guy, wouldn't have come to me trying to find a way to die so that he couldn't hurt anyone anymore. There's always been good in you. I saw that. You told me to do it, to pull that lever and I couldn't at first, and then Clark showed up. And then you guys were talking and then you said it again, you told me to pull the lever and let the kryptonite in to kill you, and Clark, being Clark said no- not to do it. I honestly don't know if Clark could ever kill. And I had you both in my head. Do it. Don't do it._

_"And then Clark told you that there must be something in your life that it was worth giving things one more try for. And you had looked at _me_. And then you told him that it wasn't always about where your heart is. You had said that it was about what you'd done and what you were going to do. You told him that you were sent here to destroy him. And then you started to change and Clark tried to talk but you had yelled that there weren't enough prayers in the world to give you redemption and then you ran at the glass that was separating you from me and Clark. You started to transform because of him, you started to lose your control, so I pushed the damn lever. I was _never _going to let you hurt him. So whatever was in my heart for you, it didn't matter because when it came to Clark's safety or you I'd choose Clark's safety. My instinct is always to protect Clark. I was in love with him for a long time, but not anymore- but that loyalty, that protectiveness- it was never about romance. In a purely detached way, protecting Clark is protecting the world but in a not detached way, Clark's a part of me. He's family. He's my best friend. He was my hero- still is, but I've got another one now too, and that's totally besides the point ... Man, I'm confused. I'm just ranting here..._

_"I had pulled that lever and I watched you weaken and I felt like a part of me was breaking or dying... You kept getting weaker and weaker. You were dying and then I just needed to be near you before you were gone. I needed you to see something good before you were gone. I needed you to know that even though I essentially killed you, that I cared about you- that it was never just a one-way thing. You weren't the only one who had feelings. I cared about you too- very much. I came up to the glass and I just stared at you for a second. I put my hand to the glass and then you turned to me with what little energy you had and you placed your hand on the glass too and you _smiled_, like having me right there, that's what you needed. And then your hand fell down and it was done. You were looking in my eyes when you died._

_"It killed me, but I didn't regret that decision. Sometimes things are about the greater good... I remember going back to the Talon later. I heard noises so I went to go check the basement. And then I heard your voice telling me not to be afraid, and then I saw you. I kind of thought that I might have a heart attack at that moment. I was confused, how had the meteor rocks not killed you? And then you had said that they'd made you stronger. And then you basically told me that you couldn't die._

_"And then I got worried again and I said that that meant that Clark was in danger. I started to try to leave. I had said that no matter what you, as Davis, wanted, the other side of you would try to kill him. I wanted to head off right away to tell him. But then you told me that you wouldn't kill Clark if you were with me. And that had stopped me in my tracks. I asked you what I had to do with anything and you told me that there was something about me that seemed to calm the killer inside. And then I told you that you were the one who said it was your true nature._

_"And then you said that maybe there was something stronger out there than your need to kill. And then you asked if I would stay with you. I headed up the stairs with so many thoughts running through my head, but the one that kept repeating was that you said you were immortal now. That you couldn't be killed, meaning that against you, Clark really wouldn't stand a chance. So with that in mind, what other choice did I have besides to say yes to you? There wasn't a choice. I_had_to do it. So instead of leaving, I locked the door and I came back down with you. My decision was not for you. If there was a way to kill you right then, I would have killed you myself just to make sure nothing would happen to Clark or to anyone else. But that wasn't possible, so my days of big time lying began, lying _and _confusion. My life became and emotional rollercoaster._

_"At first, that first night, I was just scared. I was so scared that you'd go find Clark. So I stayed with you all night. I was so angry with you. I hadn't even been thinking about the fact that I had been crying over you not even 24 hours before... As the days went by and things were calm and you stuck to your promise to me to stay in the basement and not go out, I started seeing you as just Davis again. I started to believe maybe this didn't have to be the absolute worst thing in the world. You didn't want to hurt Clark and as long as I was around or something of mine was around, you wouldn't. You didn't complain about being cooped up in the basement. You didn't try to get out. I knew you didn't __want __to go after Clark._

_"So we started to share some laughs. You'd be sweet and you'd try to help me with whatever I needed help with. We would talk and I would be reminded why I had had a thing for you in the first place. Even though technically a part of you was the villain of the big story, you weren't really. You weren't a bad guy. You were dangerous and you could be scary, but never to me. You were always good to me. And after a while, having you there in the Talon, feelings would sometimes rush back to me and I would wish that things could be different. I would wish that you were a normal guy. I would wish that your purpose for being wasn't essentially to destroy my best friend in the world. I would have wished for those things because then I could have been with you. I _would _have been with you. You know, aside from the whole Doomsday thing, you would have been kinda perfect for me. And I could have actually let myself love you without guilt or regret._

_"But then things started to get bad again. You, well your bad side, killed that guy who came after me in the Talon. And then I had to carry those bags with what was left of the body and get rid of the evidence. I was so scared again and I knew that I'd just have to try to be around you more, so nothing would happen, but I was worried because the lies I had to tell were only going to work for so long when Clark or someone else would ask why I was just spending so much time at the Talon and not with others._

_"It started to become that you could hardly have me away from you and everything was getting harder and I was getting more scared. We couldn't keep going the way we were. I couldn't keep lying, and the police were on your track and Clark was believing more strongly all the time that you were still alive. I was getting more scared that if I l left you for a second, it would result in disaster and you had told me that nothing was working anymore, that you needed me physically to be there with you to keep it under control all the time. And then I decided it. We needed to run away. We needed to get out of Smallville and we needed no one to know where we were. I could _never _let you hurt Clark, so I made the decision that we'd leave._

_"Before we could actually get gone, shit had to happen. You tied up Ollie and Jimmy in the basement, Clark came, Clark found you. Clark was gonna send you off to the Phantom Zone. But I didn't let that happen. I thought that Clark would end up hating himself for it and I didn't want that. He'd blame himself later on, I knew that, so I came and I got you and we got out of there._

_"I did what I did for Clark, but as you and me were in the car, I thought that we might be able to make it work, that maybe I could save you after-all. And when we were driving I told myself that I'd made the right decision when I'd decided on Clark's behalf not to send you to the Phantom Zone because in addition to saving Clark the eternal guilt trip, the good part of you didn't deserve to be tormented, didn't deserve that type of horrible existence._

_"When we got out of the city and we'd stopped at that gas station and you went inside, I had to call Clark. I had to let him know I was okay. I had to say goodbye to him. There's no way I could just leave him wondering if I was alright. And as I was talking to him, part of me hated you because me leaving with you made him doubt me, and because going with you was going away from those that I loved. And then you came out of the gas station with that stupid little adorable chocolate heart thingy because you remembered that road trips gave me a sweet tooth, and I remembered again the sweet guy that I knew. And I remembered that even though going away with you was to protect Clark, I remembered that I wanted to help you too, that I wanted to try to save you too- you know save you, Davis, from Doomsday._

_"We got back in the car and I told myself everything would be okay now. Clark would be safe. Jimmy would be better off without me. I'd be keeping you under control. I would adjust. I'd get used to it. That's what I told myself. And I reminded myself that I had come to love you before all this, that I just needed to think about the good things about you and focus on that. I needed to focus on what I had, and what I had was you. I needed to try to save you, to keep you good... It was literally just you and me now and I knew you loved me and I knew how much you wanted me. Now that we were gone, now that I knew Clark was safe, maybe I could try to let myself love you, you know? The feelings were there before but they just didn't matter compared to keeping Clark safe, they didn't compare to my loyalty to him. And they still didn't, but I told myself that I probably _should _let myself love you, I mean I ran away with you, right? I think you'd start to get suspicious of me if I didn't let myself love you._

_"As the days started to pass, it really finally sunk in that it was just you and me, I wasn't ever letting you anywhere near Smallville or Clark again-and so I gave in a little bit, you know. You'd kiss me- I'd let you. You'd kiss me- I kissed you back. We'd just be lying down and you'd pull me close- I would let you. You'd pull me close- I'd move closer..._

_"Do you remember that night, you know, when they found us? Remember a little bit before they found us, how we were just lying around. Do you remember when you pulled me close and I got in closer to you? Do you remember what you said to me? I remember it__so__clearly. You said _'You know, for a second here and there I kind of thought at first that you were just telling me what I wanted to hear, showing me what I wanted to see when you agreed to come away with me. Now I'm thinking that I'm not the only one who's actually fallen here.'_... Do you know that your words just flashed in my mind the other day? Same type of situation, you know, with the exception that the guy isn't a serial killer and the difference being that I'd actually slept with him and that I don't feel guilty for caring about him, but it was the same type of thing in general._

_"I'd woken up with him and he was holding me close and I dunno, it felt nice. I wanted to be closer so I moved in closer. And then he had to wake up and he had to call me on it. He basically said what you had said and I freaked out... Anyway, that's really besides the point and I'm not even really sure what my point is... I'm still kind of messed up here and I'm thinking that maybe I just have to say everything that's in my head, you know, let everything out, then maybe I can get back to normal. Maybe I can stop freaking out on this guy- this genuinely awesome guy that I feel something for. I don't know..._

_"For a long time, I've been hating you because after I split you, you know, supposedly took the evil part away, you killed Jim- you killed him and you tried to kill me... I felt stupid, so stupid, for believing that you were a good guy. But there was still this part of me that kept this part of you with me... I don't think that stuff worked. I mean I know it _did _split you, but I really believe it only worked physically. I don't think it actually _really _split you, because despite everything, I believe that _you _at _your _core were a good guy. I know you wanted me, but you wouldn't have killed Jimmy over me. And if it was really you, there's no way in hell you would have tried to kill _me_. I _know _that, I think that's why I couldn't throw that picture of you and me away, because I knew that it wasn't you who did all that horrible stuff..._

_"I guess I came here tonight to just get stuff off my chest and I felt like I had to tell you... Umm, when I told you that I only _thought_that I loved you and you heard that everything I did was for Clark, only half of that was true. _Yes,_ everything I did was for Clark, he was the reason for all my actions, but I did think about you too. I wanted to save you too, granted it was the second thought, but I did care about you. I want you to know that I did love you. The words are out of my mouth. There. I said it. I loved you and I'm sorry that I told you differently, but Jimmy was in the room, you know? And he had a part of my heart before you were ever in the picture. I married the man for a reason, I did love him. I loved him a lot. It would have been wrong for me to say that I had loved you in front of him. I was confused and- but it doesn't matter. I came here to tell you I loved you because I wanted you to know._

_"And in another life, or if things were different you and me could have been together. But it wasn't another life and things weren't different, and I don't regret protecting Clark at all. I will always protect him because he's destined for greatness and people need him and because he's my oldest and best friend. So there we have it, my loyalty was _always _with Clark, but I did love you too. I don't know if this is what I needed to do to stop being so messed up, I guess I'll find out with a bit of time. Whether it is or not, I just finally had to say it to you... I've got to go now."_

Chloe had been holding her breath, a little bit nervous at how Clark might react, but she exhaled, feeling relieved when she saw Clark give her a little smile.

"I really am extremely lucky that I've got you as my best friend. I don't think it's possible that someone could have a better friend than you- and I'm just really sorry for all the trouble and pain and heartache that being my best friend has caused you. I'm fully aware that I reap far more good things from this relationship than you do," Clark said quietly.

"Shut up," Chloe said, hitting his arm. "My position as your best friend is something that makes me extremely happy, thank you very much. And I've reaped quite a huge pile of good out of this relationship, buddy- my life being one of them. How many times over now should I have died if it wasn't for you saving me- I can't give you a precise number but I can tell you that it was plenty. You've been there for me through a whole lot."

"I _have_ been there for you a lot, but there were times when I could and should have done so much better, like after Jimmy died... And now that I heard all of that and that I think about it- I messed with your love life twice. Jimmy loved you, and whatever else was going on, you loved him, too, but you keeping my secret always had an affect on your relationship with him. And Davis, whatever else there was- that guy loved you and I can tell you that from my own personal observation. That day when I was going to send him to the phantom zone, before you got there, I was trying to tell him that he would be going to a place where he wouldn't have to hide who he really was. There was a second's pause and then he realized what I meant, and I swear he sounded like a lost child in that moment. He had said or kind of asked 'A world without Chloe?' and he had looked at me and I didn't respond, and then he got mad. He told me that I'd better have a plan B because he was refused to lose you. I told him that if he truly cared about you he would let you go. He said that you made him human and then I asked him what would happen when that changed. He said that it wasn't going to change- that you were his chance to be happy. And then he asked why his own Kryptonian brother couldn't let him have that."

Chloe gave him a sad smile. "Whatever happened before- all the things that have gone down- everything eventually led up to this point in time, and trust me right now, my love life is pretty freakin' awesome."

She thought about Oliver and the sadness left her smile completely. "I've got Ollie, and as much as we sometimes drive each other insane- I'm so in love him, Clark. I'm happy. There's been a lot of sadness and bad stuff in my life, especially where Davis and Jimmy were concerned, but I don't feel sad and lost anymore, Clark. I'm leaving the past in the past and I'm here in the now. And I really like my now, minus the part where I've got a psycho after me... Davis _would_ have been perfect for me, but he could never _actually_ be perfect for me because of the threat he was to you, but Oliver- he's completely perfect for me, Clark. He gets me, he understands 'Chloe and Clark' he knows and understands and doesn't try to mess with how much you mean to me and he's not threatened by it. He knows that I'm only in love with him. I don't have to hide anything from him. We work together. We're the perfect combination of the same and different all at the same time. He calls me on my bullshit. He can make me laugh, he can calm me down, and he can make me smile when I'm sad. He makes me feel special. He's my guy. I've fallen for him hard, Clark. He makes me feel extremely loved."

"And that makes me very happy. You guys are great together. I actually trust him with you and that's not something I do with guys in relation to you. I never really feel that anyone's been quite good enough for you, but it's obvious that Oliver's all about you. It's obvious that he loves you and respects you and understands you, and that your happiness makes _him _happy. I want the best for you. I want you to be happy and he does that. I'm fully behind you two. And if I have to share the title of being your hero with another guy, I'm alright sharing it with Oliver," Clark said, giving Chloe a grin.

"Of course you would hear the hero part in that whole blurting out of everything," Chloe said, elbowing her best friend in the ribs.

"Oh shut up," Clark said, laughing, as Chloe rested her head on his shoulder "It was nice to hear."


	29. Chapter 29

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks to ica013, whatweareafraidof, GoChlollie, Raya, Hellzz-on-Earth, morning1 and BerryEbilBunny for reviewing. The new chapter is here. Hope you'll enjoy it. Leave me a review- they make me happy : ) o-0-o-0-o**

"I've never really been good with babies, or let's be honest- had much interaction with them at all, but I'm kind of in love with this little thing of cuteness here," Lois said to Lana as she made funny faces at Rina.

"Well, I don't think it's that hard to be crazy about this little girl," Lana said, grinning at Lois and her funny faces.

"Oh, and there's a new member of our little club as of this morning," Lois said.

"And which club is that?" Lana asked.

"The club consisting of people Rina actually likes," Lois said, laughing a bit.

"So who is joining Chloe, you and I?" Lana asked.

"Clark."

"I told you that he would be," Lana said, amused.

"And I didn't disagree with you," Lois reminded her.

"Who do you think will be next?" Lana asked.

"If Rina actually has a preference for women in general, I'd say Dinah and Tess when they actually are in her vicinity for more than 5 seconds-"

"Tess?" Lana asked, unable to not laugh.

"Yeah, Tess. I can't picture her as being good with kids at all, but because I think that, I bet you she'll actually get along with the little princess."

Lana just laughed again. "That's probably not a bad theory. What about Oliver, you think he'll come around soon?"

"Well, you heard Chloe before, at least he promised her that he was going to try to do better with the baby. He's just jealous right now, honestly that's what it is," Lois said, rolling her eyes, thinking about Oliver and the baby. "I know part of him is cautious and paranoid because of who Rina's daddy is, but honestly, he's just so in love with Chloe that I think he's more paranoid because Rina is Davis' daughter, _period, _ and not because of the potential danger that her DNA could pose.. Chloe loved Davis, and Ollie knows it now. He heard the words come from Chloe's own lips and he was so stuck on Chloe's words that Davis would have been perfect for her that he convinced himself that everything was going to turn out badly... Ollie's gonna come around, and I think it'll be sooner rather than later, even if it's only because this girl is now permanently a part of Chloe's life. Ollie's not gonna let Chloe slip away from him, and my bet is that before long, Ollie's gonna fall for baby Rina's charms too."

"Bart or Oliver- who is Rina letting in the club first?" Lana asked, thinking of the young speedster with the little crush on Chloe, the guy who she could see clearly really had a lot of respect for Chloe too.

"Bart," Lois said, laughing. "He's quite the charmer."

"That's my bet, too," Lana said, grinning. "But I don't think it'll be long before she let's Oliver in, either. With how much Chloe means to him, he's gonna make himself get over whatever paranoia and jealousy that he's got pretty quick, because I think I can say with a strong amount of certainty Oliver wants to make Chloe happy and he's gonna see how much Chloe loves Rina and it won't be long until he finds that he might just love this tiny thing, too."

"Ollie's stubborn as hell, but he's got a good heart- I think everything is gonna work out nicely," Lois said.

"And after we figure out what the hell is going on and find Lex, and make sure he can't be a threat to anyone anymore, everything is gonna be excellent."

"Excellent sounds awesome. I'm looking forward to that," Lois said, cringing a little bit. "Right now we've got to deal with a messy diaper."

"You look scared, Lois," Lana laughed.

"Diapers with baby crap _are _scary, Lang. Come on, you get to help me."

"I'll give you some credit for not entirely shoving the diaper changing duty on me," Lana said, very amused with how uncomfortable Lois looked.

"Oh don't be mistaken, I'm pretty sure that if this was any other kid, I'd shove this completely on you. You're lucky that I'm a sucker for her."

Lana just rolled her eyes and laughed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I really shouldn't be surprised that you can still remember the combination to this after over a year, but yet I am," Clark said, laughing a little as Chloe opened up the storage locker that Davis had rented out and paid for the year earlier.

"Holy crap," Chloe said quietly. "I didn't think there'd be this much-"

"Wow," Clark said, impressed as he looked into the locker. "That's got to be at least a couple hundred thousand dollars."

"Wow is right," Chloe said, throwing the money into her purse.

"Wow," Clark repeated.

"We both said that already," Chloe told her best friend, chuckling.

"The guys in your love life know how to go all-out for you, I'll say that," Clark said, nudging her playfully. "Jimmy buys you Watchtower, Davis does God knows what to leave you with a ton of money and Oliver buys you a satellite. It's good to know that they recognized the awesomeness that is you."

Chloe laughed and just shook her head.

"On a different note, how are you feeling?" Clark asked.

"About?" Chloe asked.

"Everything today."

"I'm feeling okay. I mean, I know we had to get a DNA sample from Rina so that we can answer some of the questions you all have and so we can actually confirm what I can already tell without a doubt- that she's Davis's daughter, but it would be nice if everyone just felt as sure about her as me, you know, about there being nothing threatening about her," Chloe said shrugging.

"You wouldn't have let Emil touch her if it was something that was really going to hurt her," Clark said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"That's right, so it was good that she wasn't screaming."

"I know it was nothing big, but really, I'm surprised with how little she cried. It's pretty amazing what you can do for her, how you can so completely calm her down. It's pretty sweet, actually. You're really good for her."

"Honestly, I think she's really good for me too, actually. I've never really been a baby person, but with her, well- I just don't want her to go anywhere. I really want her with me. I mean, I don't really know how to raise a kid and that's still scaring me, but it just feels like she's supposed to be with me," Chloe told him.

"You like taking care of people. You've got this need to save people just as much as any of us on the team."

"Speaking of protecting and saving- I know I checked in with my dad before, but at this point I'm kind of worried about him. I mean, what's to say that Lex hasn't decided to turn his attention onto him now? I want to go check up on him. You up for adding another stop on our little trip today?" Chloe asked Clark.

"Sure, that's fine with me," Clark said.

"Thanks," Chloe said, feeling relieved.

"No prob."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Come on! Do I really have to go?" Oliver asked, sounding like a child.

His secretary couldn't help but laugh. "You are the boss, and they want the top guy there if the deal is going to go down. Think of it like this Mr. Queen, you get out of town for a couple days maximum to close this deal and then you probably never have to actually see these people face to face again."

"Bigger picture. Good point. What would I do without you, Marie?" Oliver said, giving her a smile as he started to head back into his office.

"Mr. Queen, I've been debating on if I should tell you this or not, but I think you should know, and I'll apologize in advance if it makes you angry-"

"What is it, Marie?"

"Do you remember awhile back when the cameras caught you and you ended up on TV with the mystery blonde?" the secretary asked.

"Yes."

"I'm not going to name names because I don't want people getting angry with me, but I think you deserve to know, just in case something might come out of it. There's been talk here and there since then, but there's been a lot more of it recently. Some people are thinking that you might be settling back into your old ways," the older woman said carefully, not wanting to offend.

"My old ways?"

"Their words, not mine were precisely 'his drunken, whoring playboy ways.' And there were some comments about how maybe if that was the case, you weren't fit to be in charge."

"Really?" Oliver said, trying not to get angry.

"Frankly I don't think it's anyone's business what you do in your personal life. You run the company wonderfully, and really that's what's important," Marie said, trying to calm him down, seeing that he was at the very least irritated, if not angry.

"That's nice to hear, thank you. But I assure you those days are _long _gone. That's not me anymore. Trust me, Marie, I'm a one-woman man now. The 'mystery blonde,' she's been the only one for quite a bit now. She's the only one I want."

Marie just smiled.

"What?" Oliver asked her.

"You really love this girl, huh?"

"Yeah," Oliver said, softening.

"Well, I'm happy to hear that, and I'll pass along the message if I hear anymore comments like that."

"Thank you," Oliver said, entering his office and closing the door.

Oliver put what Marie said out of his head and picked up his phone to call Chloe and let her know that he would have to fly out for a day or two later on, hoping she wouldn't be annoyed with him. He already knew that she would think he was making this stupid business trip up as an excuse to get out of going shopping with her later. Chloe was all about getting things done today, and she wanted to go shopping for Rina. She ran down her to-do list for the day with him last night.

He knew that Chloe asked him if he'd go with her as a way to tell him 'hey, see I'm not trying to push you away' without actually coming out and having to repeat it again. He had told her that he would go with her and he knew now, though, that she'd think he never intended to go with her at all. And that wasn't true, he had every intention of going. If it was going to keep Chloe happy, he was going to do it. But he really did have to leave town today.

Oliver wondered if Chloe had already got Jonn to make a visit to Rocco and his wife, the people who Chloe had paid so that Selena could have a room with them. Chloe knew that she wasn't going to be able to deal with questions from them about where Selena vanished to all of the sudden, so she wanted Jonn to, as bad as it sounds, play with their heads a bit. And as for the baby things that had already been bought, Chloe couldn't bear to actually use that stuff. It had to all be new. Those things Selena already had were going to get donated.

He wondered where Chloe was exactly now. He knew that she had had a lot of things planned for today. When she said was going to get things done, she meant it. He wondered if she'd already seen Emil and let him do his thing with the baby. A whole bunch of questions could soon be answered with just a little bit from the baby.

They would confirm what everyone was already pretty much sure of- that the baby was Davis'. It would tell them if their suspicions that Selena was not actually Rina's biological mother were correct, and it could give them answers as to what exactly Rina was or wasn't.

The kid was cute, but it was still so odd to him how Chloe could be so attached to someone she just met. Anyway, that didn't really matter at the moment, what mattered was making sure Chloe wasn't going to be pissed off at him for having to leave.

He dialled her phone number and hoped for the best.

The phone rang a few times before Chloe picked up.

"Hey Ollie," she said, answering.

"What's up, Professor?"

"I'm just being my paranoid self. Me and Clark are heading to my dad's place. I just want to check on him and make sure everything is okay. I know I checked in with him before, but I'm a little worried that Lex might set his attention on my parents. I know that everything is good with my mom, but my dad isn't as hard to locate as my mother is."

"Don't worry, Chlo. Your dad's fine. The offer is still open- if you want him closer to you if it'll make you feel better, all you need to do is convince him to come and I'll get him wherever you want him to be," Oliver said, wanting to make sure she didn't stress anymore than she already had been.

"Honestly, I might take you up on that depending on whether I actually feel like he's safe or not after I see him... And by the way, thanks for finally handing that footage over. I appreciate it," she told him.

"I figured, #1 it wasn't mine to keep and #2 if I just threw it out you might not believe that I actually got rid of it, so it's yours to do whatever with... Okay, now don't be mad at me-"

"What is it?" Chloe asked, closing her eyes for a second.

"I can't come with you today. I've got to head out of town. There's this big deal that's going to go down, but I need to be there if it's going to go through. I'm gonna be gone until at least tomorrow."

"Oh," Chloe said, trying not to sound disappointed.

"You're mad. I can hear it in your voice."

"I'm not mad," she said, lying.

"Yeah you are," he sighed. "Listen, I _swear_ to you that I'm not just making this meeting up. I actually really _do_ have to go."

There was silence for about ten seconds. "It's fine Oliver, honestly it'll probably be better without you. You'd probably want to pull your hair out after five minutes in the baby store."

"I'd suck it up for you, Sidekick, I swear. I'd suck it up and smile, but I can't really avoid taking this meeting."

"Don't worry about it. It's okay, really," Chloe said, laughing a little at she pictured Oliver in the baby store.

"When I get back, I'll do whatever you want. I promise," he told her.

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

"So you don't hate my guts?"

"No," she said, grinning. She knew that he wanted to hear a little more than that, but she wasn't going to say what he wanted to hear first.

"So that's it, you don't hate me? There's nothing else?" he asked her, laughing.

"I think 'I don't hate you' sums up my feelings pretty well. Is there anything else you need to say to me before I hang up" she said stubbornly, still grinning.

"Stubborn woman. You're not gonna let me hear it first, are you?"

"Nope."

"Fine. I love you," he told her. "And on a very serious note again, don't go anywhere alone."

"Lex is after me, I get it, Ollie. Don't worry. Trust me, I don't think I'd be able to sneak off anywhere alone even if I tried."

"Good," Oliver said, sounding pleased.

"Okay, now go get yourself ready, Queen. The sooner you deal with this meeting crap the sooner you get back to me."

"When you put it like that, I'm pretty eager to get to that meeting."

"Alright Billionaire Boy, go do your thing. I'll talk to you later."

"Once again, Sullivan- I love you."

"I love you, too," she told him, hanging up.

"Aww, so sweet," Clark teased.

"Shut up," Chloe said, smacking his arm.

"As long as you've got the right address, we should be here. This should be your dad's place."

"This place definitely looks like something my dad would pick. Small, cozy, not ugly but not screaming 'look at me'," Chloe said walking up a few steps.

She noticed that the door was open. "Daddy?" she called out. "Surprise."

When she didn't get an answer, she made a move to walk in the house, but Clark pulled her back.

"I'll go first. Your dad doesn't seem like the type of guy to leave his door open if he's not home."

Chloe started to panic. She followed Clark inside and her heart fell when she saw that things had been thrown all over the place.

She pulled out her phone and called her father, but she got no answer.

"Clark, he's not answering me. Something's wrong. Something happened. Someone was here," Chloe said, starting to hyperventilate. "They have my dad. Oh my God!"

"Chloe, I need you to breathe," Clark said, trying to keep her calm.

Chloe's phone rang and she answered it without checking the caller ID. "Dad?" Chloe said, picking up the phone.

"Hey babe," Lois said. Chloe knew immediately that something wasn't right.

"What is it, Lo?"

"Your dad is here and Pete's with him. We're all back at Emil's place now instead of the Talon. Your dad and Pete- they're hurt and it's fairly serious, but they'll be okay. Rina's absolutely fine, umm- but our apartment isn't. Just get Clark to get you back to Emil's as soon as possible. Don't panic, everyone is okay, but just get back here soon."

"We're on our way," Chloe said, taking a deep breath, hanging up.

"I don't know what the hell happened, but we need to get to Emil's place right away," Chloe said, trying really hard to keep herself calm.

Clark grabbed Chloe and sped off.


	30. Chapter 30

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks to Bree, Raya, Hellzz-on-Earth, GoChlollie, whatweareafraidof and ica013 for reviewing/leaving comments. Here's the new chapter. Hope you'll like it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o**

"Hi baby," Gabe Sullivan said with a shaky laugh as Chloe walked through Emil's door.

"Hey Chloe," Pete said, trying to keep his smile in place.

"Hi," Chloe said weakly, hand reaching for the wall to keep herself steady. She took some deep breaths and wished that her hands would stop trembling, and that the water would stop pooling in her eyes.

When she felt a little bit steadier on her feet, she quickly went over to her dad and hugged him and then moved on to hug Pete too.

"Be careful, Chloe!" Emil warned when Chloe reached out to give Pete a hug. "He was shot. You've got another member in your club now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chloe's father asked, his head whipping from Chloe's direction to Emil's.

Chloe sent a glare in Emil's direction, and the doctor just shrugged his apologies.

Emil decided that he would let Chloe give her father the answer she wanted to by getting up and heading out of the room.

"I'm going to leave you all to chat for a bit while I go set up the room. Gabe, my friend will be here very soon and then we'll deal with your leg, okay?"

"Sure thing, doc," Chloe's father said, trying to smile.

"What's wrong with your leg, dad?" Chloe asked.

"Not sure exactly. All I know is that there's no way I can walk on it right now. But it doesn't hurt too much. Your doctor friend thinks it's more than broken, but I'm not worrying about any of that right now. I'll deal with things when I know for sure what's going on. Now don't try to avoid answering my question- what did he mean before? Were you shot?" Gabe Sullivan asked his daughter.

"Don't worry about me," Chloe said quickly, not wanting to deal with a worried dad right now. She looked down at her father's leg with concern as she asked Pete if he felt all right.

"I'll live," Pete told her. "This isn't that bad, Chlo."

"Chloe, honey, really- what's going on here?" her father asked seriously. "We went to your place and someone attacked it. The Talon is pretty much destroyed. What's going on? Who did you piss off, little girl? Were you looking into some story – did you dig too deep? You probably found out a dirty dark secret of some rich guy or something, didn't you?"

Chloe couldn't help it, she just had to laugh.

"I missed you, daddy," she told him, hugging him again, avoiding the question.

Her eyes went to Pete and hoped he'd understand what she meant specifically with her question. "Did you guys see anyone or anything out of the ordinary?"

"No, other than the Talon on fire and some guys shooting their guns at it and us there was nothing out of the ordinary," Pete answered, returning Chloe's look knowingly.

"I couldn't tell you much. I was knocked out for awhile," Gabe said. "Now, for once in your life, Chloe Sullivan, listen to your father- me- and answer the question. What is going on?"

Chloe knew she would have to tell her father something, but she definitely did not want to tell him everything.

"You're not going home after this, dad. I have someone after me, and you're right, he's pretty freakin' rich, and you've definitely seen his face before. I don't think he wants me dead, at least not yet, but I'm sure his intentions aren't good ones... I went to your house and you weren't there and it was all messed up and I thought they got you... What the hell happened?" Chloe asked her dad. "And how'd you two end up together?" she said, looking from her father to Pete.

"Lana called me last night and said she'd be sticking around here for awhile. She wanted to be here for you, to be able to help out if you needed her. I thought I'd come back to town for a little visit to surprise her and see you and Clark since it's been quite awhile," Pete told her.

"I was happy when you called me. It was really good to hear from you," Gabe told his daughter. "It's been far too long since we've actually seen each other face to face, so I thought I'd pay you a visit and tell you about what's been going on with me. I have some news I've been keeping to myself and I should probably tell you even though I really don't want to, and I don't think it's that big a deal. The doctor said I should tell you, though... Anyway I guess me and Pete had the exact same idea- fly in and rent a car and drive over. I saw him at the airport and we decided to just split on a rental car and drive over together."

Chloe rubbed her temples and tried not to panic. What kind of news could her father have that his doctor would want him to tell her about that could possibly be anything but bad? Something wasn't right. Something was wrong with her dad and that thought was frightening as hell for Chloe.

"Get back to the part about the news I should know. What's wrong, dad? Tell me the truth, tell me whatever this news is even though I really don't want to hear you say that something's wrong with you," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

Emil yelled out from wherever he was and asked Chloe to get the door. "Let him in. He's a friend. He's going to help me with your dad."

Chloe didn't even hear a knock but she supposed Emil had a camera on his door and could see the person approaching.

Before Chloe went to answer the door, she told her dad once again to tell her what he needed to say.

"Don't look so scared, princess. It's not great, but it's not the end of the world. The doctor says he tells everyone he comes across with this to let their kids know so that they don't get too furious with us and get into big fights and arguments. My heart isn't as great as it used to be. It's a little weak, but it's okay because I'm taking medication to help with that. A lot of stress isn't really good for my heart so the doctor says to let everyone close know so that things don't get too intense."

_Can't stress you out and freak you out much- okay. I was never going to tell you all the details of this craziness that is my life right now, but now this just means I'll have to be extra careful and come up with some good explanations for some questions you might ask. Nothing about meteor powers and alien friends and almost lovers._

Chloe answered the door and let the other doctor in. He gave a nod to Chloe, Gabe and Pete and headed off to see Emil.

"Now that I've told you my news, do you have any news for me- besides the fact that you pissed off the wrong person and now have someone after you?"

Chloe looked at her father. He had the look in his eye and tone of voice that said he clearly knew there was some kind of big news and was just waiting for her to finally say it out loud. Chloe bet that it was about Rina. Had he seen her?

Lana, Lois and Rina were not in the room right now, they were in another. Lois and Lana were with the baby keeping her happy and quiet. Lana had called Chloe right after Lois did and told her that since they were pretty sure that Chloe wouldn't be ready to tell her dad about Rina they'd try to keep her out of his sight for awhile. Neither of them was sure if he had seen the baby before he was knocked out, but they would try to give Chloe as much time as possible before the baby subject came up.

_Okay, how do I explain the baby without completely freaking him out? Think. Think. Why can't I think?_

Gabe Sullivan didn't bother to wait for a response from Chloe since he was pretty sure he wasn't going to get one. Instead he just blurted out what he wanted to say.

"When were you going to tell me that you had a baby? I can't believe you never told me you were pregnant. I'm your father for God's sake."

Chloe just stared at her father. She really didn't know what to say. Her brain just wasn't working. It shouldn't be so hard to think of something, but she just couldn't do it.

"I know that little girl isn't Lois's or Lana's since they'd have no reason to be trying to hide her from me," Gabe continued.

Chloe hoped that Clark would be done talking with Bart very soon and get in here. She wished that someone would walk through the door and draw the attention away from herself. She felt like she was a teenager again- being interrogated by her dad.

Chloe actually got her wish, but she didn't expect the person who walked through the door to be there. She hadn't expected to see him until at least tomorrow, but she was so happy that he was here right now.

"Chloe, you're not getting away with this crap," Oliver said, walking inside.

"What the hell are you doing here, Oliver?" she asked him.

"Stay the hell away from my daughter!" Gabe suddenly yelled, picking up the nearest thing he could find and throwing it at Oliver's head.

Pete fought extremely hard not to laugh.

Whatever it was that Gabe threw, it made contact with Oliver's head.

"Oh my God! Dad, what the hell are you doing?" Chloe said, running over to Oliver.

"Nice shot," Oliver muttered, touching the side of his head and bringing it back with a little bit of blood.

Gabe looked confused. "You said some rich guy with a face I'd recognize was after you. He's rich. I know his face. He sounded angry."

With her back to her father, Chloe's pressed her hand to the side of Oliver's head and concentrated.

"Stop it," Oliver whispered as he saw blood appear on the side of Chloe's head now.

"Shush," she told him. The blood started to disappear from her now too. "You're healed, I'm healed. It's all good."

"Dad, I assure you that Oliver means me no harm," Chloe told her dad, trying not to laugh. The situation really was kind of funny.

And then suddenly Chloe's smile vanished and made way for a look of panic. Her boyfriend and her dad were in the same room. They'd never met before. This was their first time seeing each other. Now she was nervous.

Pete couldn't help but grin at Chloe and Chloe glared daggers at her friend, which just made his grin grow wider.

_Oh shit. This is Chloe's dad. Oh man. I have to make a good impression. I can't have her dad hating my guts. I didn't think this was going to be 'Meet Chloe's dad day'. Why the hell didn't Bart mention Chloe's dad being here? Suck it up. You're not some teenager. You're not supposed to be freaked out by your girlfriend's dad._

"I definitely have no bad intentions for Chloe, sir. I'm just trying to keep her safe," Oliver said, clearing his throat.

"That's good to know," Gabe said, giving Oliver the once-over.

Chloe cringed, hoping this wasn't going to go badly.

"So why does he want to keep you safe exactly?" Gabe asked, turning to Chloe. He wasn't going to make this easy on his daughter. He figured out that Chloe and the billionaire must be together, but he was going to get his kid to actually say it to him. A baby and a billionaire in Chloe's life, and she didn't tell her own father about either- Gabe Sullivan was a little offended. "Who is he to you?"

Oliver could tell that Chloe's dad was not too pleased at the moment.

There was something about having her dad right in front of her that made Chloe feel like she was 16 years old all over again.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Chloe said stubbornly. Her dad had her not only feeling like she was 16 all over again, but acting like it too.

Pete was nearly in tears, laughing silently and looking away from the others. He had worried for his friend a lot since he had heard about all the bad things that were going on, but this situation here was just too funny.

Her father raised an eyebrow. "That's your response? I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure you left age sixteen behind almost 8 years ago."

Oliver grinned.

Chloe rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop herself from laughing a little bit too.

Chloe took a breath and finally told her father. "We're together."

Clark finally arrived and walked in.

"Hey there, Clark. Nice to see you again," Gabe said.

"You too, Mr. Sullivan," Clark said, going over to shake his hand.

"It's been awhile, Kent," Pete said, grinning at his old friend.

"Be careful Clark, Pete got shot," Chloe said, remembering Emil's warning to her.

"How's everything going, besides today, I mean," Clark said, sending a grin back at Pete.

"Pretty good," Pete said.

Chloe really hoped that her father wouldn't ask her or say anything else to her right now. There were a couple bottles of water on the table and Chloe picked one up.

"So, what do you think, Clark? Do you approve of those two?" Gabe said, nodding at Chloe and Oliver. "I'm trying to decide on what my position is."

Clark looked at the older man to see if he was kidding. Gabe looked a bit amused so Clark could tell there was a bit of joking in there, but he was also honestly serious and curious.

"I definitely approve," Clark said. "The relationship gets the Clark Kent Seal of Approval."

Chloe bit her lip as a smile started to form.

"I'm glad to hear that, Clark. So, daughter of mine," Gabe said, attention turning back to Chloe. "I'm assuming that this is the guy who got you pregnant. He's the baby's father right?"

Chloe spit out her water, Oliver's eyes got as wide as saucers and Clark looked confused.

Pete once again, was trying not to draw attention to himself and his laughter.

"Clark, I hear Emil calling for my dad. Could you hurry up and bring my dad down to Emil?" Chloe said quickly, totally making it up.

Emil's home really was like a mini hospital. Chloe's father was sitting in a wheelchair.

"Sure thing, Chlo," Clark said, taking Chloe's dad and the chair and pushing him down to where Emil was.

Oliver was looking at Chloe like he hadn't believed what he had heard. He looked shocked, but definitely not disappointed.

"Don't look at me like that, Queen. I'm not pregnant," Chloe said, trying to calm herself down.

Pete couldn't hold it in anymore, his laughter went from silent to very audible.

"Pete Ross," Chloe said, turning to him, "You are a _horrible _friend."

"Oh come on Chlo, you know I love you, but this was pretty freakin' funny... And you, I don't think we've ever officially met," Pete said, turning his gaze to Oliver.

"I think you're right," Oliver said, walking over to Pete, reaching out to shake his hand.

"Pete, meet Oliver Queen. Oliver, meet Pete Ross, my old and though generally awesome, sometimes- like today- crappy friend," she said, rolling her eyes at Pete.

"Good to meet you," both men said at the same time.

"Lois, Lana- come out from wherever you guys are," Chloe called out, pacing back and forth.

Chloe's friend and cousin came out from the room they were in wearing looks of amusement.

Chloe took Rina from Lois and whispered to the little girl. "You know how I can always calm you down, pretty girl? You think you can do that for me? If you can, that would be pretty awesome."

"Did you guys hear everything?" Pete asked Lois and Lana.

The two women nodded.

"Ollie, since we couldn't see and only heard, we can only assume that my uncle threw something at you. Were we right?" Lois asked, trying not to laugh.

"Oh yeah, he definitely threw something. The man's got good aim. He hit me right in the head," Oliver said.

"I'm _so _sorry about that," Chloe told Oliver.

"It _was _kinda funny," Oliver said, shaking his head.

"Why are you here?" Chloe asked him, remembering that he had somewhere else he needed to be getting to. "You said you had some major meeting thing."

"Yeah, but then Bart told me that the place you live in pretty much got blown up. You didn't think that was something important to tell me?"

"I didn't know about any of this craziness until after I got off the phone with you," Chloe told him. "My dad saw Rina and he's convinced she's not Lois's or Lana's. He thinks she's mine and now he thinks you're the one who knocked me up. I can't tell him the real story because frankly it'll freak him out and I can't chance doing anything that can stress him out because apparently his heart isn't so great these days."

"You three- a real explanation as to what the hell happened today and whatever you saw would be awesome, so if you could get that ready for us I'd really appreciate it," Oliver said to Lois, Lana and Pete. "And also, ladies could you just take her for a minute, too, that would be great. I need to talk to Chloe."

Lois took Rina as Oliver brought Chloe into Emil's kitchen.

"You need to be leaving, mister," Chloe told Oliver, "But I'm really glad you're here right now," she said as Oliver grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

"I was worried. Are you okay, Sidekick?" Oliver asked her.

"They went after my dad, Ollie. I'm not letting him go back home. Lex had people looking for him in his house, but they never found him because he decided to come here and visit me. So they didn't find him at his house, but he still got hurt over here! Him and Pete went to the Talon I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but somehow Pete got shot and my dad's leg got broken or something and Emil's apparently worried and thinks it's more than a broken leg and got a friend to come over and check out my dad's leg with him. I have to admit, I'm really scared for my dad right now... And then what do I tell him about Rina? I could tell him that I adopted her, but he's not going to believe that. I can't tell him the truth about her, Oliver. It would completely freak him out. I'd leave him with some kind of psychological scars if I told him that she's the daughter of the hot alien guy who occasionally turned into the Doomsday monster that kidnapped me from my wedding to Jimmy- the guy who I ran away with."

"Take a breath, Chloe," Oliver said, rubbing her shoulders, thinking about the words Chloe just said, thinking about scars.

"What do I tell him, Ollie?"

"Tell him that his assumption is right. Tell him that I'm the baby's father. Problem solved. Stress over," Oliver said after a moment of thinking.

Chloe gave him a smile. "Seriously?"

"I don't want to see you freaking out, so yeah, I'm serious."

"But I can't ask you to do this," she said, shaking her head.

"You didn't ask. I offered," he reminded her.

"But-"

"Listen, I know I was stupid before. I know what I said about Rina, and I regret it, okay? I'm sure when we get the tests back it'll turn out that you were right like you always are and that she's just a harmless baby. I'm sure I'll be a Rina fan in no time. I'll be good to her, so just say she's mine. It's fine, Chloe. We don't need you stressing over this with everything else going on."

Chloe looked at Oliver for a moment. She liked this new attitude he had about Rina, but she hadn't really expected it so fast. He was making an effort earlier, but this seemed like a really sudden sort of extra leap.

"Okay," Chloe said, nodding. She felt like she was missing something- like something had happened and she wasn't sure what it was.

She shook it off and looked at Oliver again. "Thank you," she told him, pulling him down for a kiss.

Oliver kissed her back and he decided to bring up the next subject before she did. "You're gonna stay with me for awhile, okay? I know that you're already thinking about a place to live now that the Talon's gone. You're probably not going to agree to move in with me, so at least just come stay with me for awhile until things are a bit calmer and then we can look for a new place for you guys."

"Okay," Chloe said. "That sounds fine."

"Nice," Oliver sad, grinning. "No putting up any kind of fight."

Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Chlo," Oliver said, sounding a bit more serious.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know the man, but he's _your _dad- does he hate me?"

Chloe pulled him to her again and laughed as she planted another kiss on his lips. "You're all nervous. That's _so _ adorable."

"Haha, Sullivan. Laugh all you want, but I'm serious, I don't want your dad to hate me. He didn't seem all that thrilled."

"My dad doesn't hate you. He doesn't _know_ you. And you're right, he wasn't thrilled, but that I'm almost 100% sure was _all_ for me. He thinks I just had a baby and was pregnant for 9 months and chose to keep that a secret, and he's assuming that your Rina's dad so therefore in his eyes you've been in the picture for at least 9 months too- another thing I didn't tell him. Trust me, he's upset with me right now. I think he probably favours you over me right now, actually. If he didn't like you or hated you with me, he would have said it."

"Really?"

"Do you know what my father told Jimmy when he saw him for the first time after we got engaged?" Chloe asked Oliver, sighing at the memory.

"What did he say?"

"I'm never going to forget the words because he pissed me off so badly that day and I'd honestly never expected him to say something like that because it seemed so out of character. He said 'You seem like a nice kid, but there's no way that you're the right one for my daughter. Your marriage will not last. You're not the kind of guy Chloe needs. You're going to end up holding her back and you guys won't be happy for too long. I won't be attending the wedding because I can't support my daughter while she makes this mistake.' I'd say you're alright in my dad's eyes since he hasn't thrown anything like that at you."

"He may not have thrown any words like that at me, but he actually threw something at me," Oliver said, laughing a little.

Chloe burst out laughing as a picture popped into her head. "If he was actually able to walk right now-"

"Your father would have tackled me to the ground and tried to kick my ass," Oliver said, finishing for her.

"He thought you were the one after me, can you blame him?"

"No, not at all," Oliver said.

"Okay, now really, you gotta go, Queen," Chloe said.

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "Lex had your home destroyed Chlo. I'm definitely not leaving now."

"Ollie, come on. You said it was really important that you be there for the deal to happen. You said it was major. You don't want everyone in your company to be pissed off with you, right? I know Queen Industries is yours, but so many other people have their hands in your business. You have shareholders and all that lovely crap. I'll be okay. As crazy as it makes me sometimes, there's no shortage of people who've got my back here. Go make your appearance and then get back here as soon as your presence isn't needed there anymore."

"What don't you get about me not wanting to leave you after what just happened?" he asked her.

"And what don't you get about me telling you that I'll be fine?" she asked him back, elbowing him gently. "I'll be happier if you go, that way there's no chance of anyone getting pissed off with you. And _that _means that you're probably not going to have to spend much extra time at work in the next week which means more time for you with me and one less thing to worry about. And yeah it's selfish, but I'm not in the mood to deal with crap from your company with all this other lovely stuff going on. So please just do me this favour and go do your job. Honestly, I'm not just trying to get rid of you and be my stubborn self and prove that I can take care of myself right now. You leaving now will be better for both of us in the long-run, okay?"

"You really want me to go?" he asked her.

"I do. I want you to go and then I want you to hurry back here," she told him.

"Fine," he said after about a minute, pulling Chloe into another hug. "We're actually gonna have some peace soon, Sidekick. I promise. This stuff with Lex is gonna end, and we're just gonna go on like normal- no more worries. That time's gonna come- I mean that."


	31. Chapter 31

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks to whatweareafraidof, Danielle, ica013, Raya, Bree, Hellzz-on-Earth, morning1, GoChlollie and Addison013198 ****for reviewing the last chapter. I appreciate it : ) Here's chapter 31 for everyone to read and hopefully enjoy. Leave me a review- I love hearing from you o-0-o-0-o**

"Do you know how pathetic this all is? I don't think I've met anyone as stupid or as incompetent as the lot of you," Lex said angrily, slamming his fist down onto the desk he was sitting at.

"Haven't you ever thought of just letting all of this go? Why don't you just leave the woman alone? Let whatever happened in the past stay in the past. I'm not even really sure why you're doing all this," said a young man with thick glasses. "Just focus your energy on something else, sir."

The three other men gave the younger one a warning look, one that said 'shut up if you know what's good for you'.

Lex stood up and walked away from the desk he was sitting at and over to the young man who had spoken. He stood in front of him for a moment and gave him a smile. The young man breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at the others, ready to tell them that their warning glances had been for nothing.

Lex's smile quickly left his face as he threw the young man to the floor.

"Keep your mouth shut from now on, got it?" Lex asked, glaring down at the young man.

He just nodded, not looking up.

"Why should I let this go? And this is not _all_ about Chloe. Do you idiots forget the things I've told you? A lot of this is about Chloe, but not all of it. I will explain this for you morons one more time and that is it- and I'm only bothering to drill this into your head because I'm not in the mood to look for new employees. Make no mistake, if you cross me I will end you, and then I'll be forced to look for new people to work for me."

The other employees nodded and weren't sure where they should look, they just didn't want to be looking at Lex.

"I hate Clark, Oliver, Lana, Lois Lane, that annoying little twit Bart Allen and Chloe. I hate them all. Clark Kent turned on me and never appreciated my friendship, and he never trusted me. Oliver Queen has been an asshole since our school days and the bastard tried to kill me and thought he succeeded. I would have given Lana the world. All I ever did was love her and she never returned that love. She's an ungrateful bitch. Lois Lane is a stupid little pest who used to love writing crap about me. She thought I was garbage. That little idiot Bart Allen is an ungrateful little boy. I gave him work and money when he had none and what did he end up doing instead of being grateful? He joined up with Oliver.

"And Chloe, oh little Chloe Sullivan- she's another ungrateful bitch, that one. I kept her safe. I protected her from my father when she was in high school. I protected her, yet that still wasn't good enough later on. No, not for her. She was always suspicious of me. She knew about Clark's secret and she didn't trust me around him, not really. She could have told me his secret, but she never did. Clark and I would have been best friends if it wasn't for her. And I know she never thought I was good for Lana either. She thought Lana was crazy for marrying me. The bitch knew what Oliver did to me! She thought he had killed me and she told no one. Saint Chloe knew what Oliver did and believed I was dead, and she did nothing about it! She didn't tell Clark because she knew he'd be furious. She protected Oliver Queen after he 'killed' me and she wasn't even screwing him yet! She picked him over the guy who protected her.

"I hate them all. They all deserve to pay for their treatment of me and they will- through Chloe. I can't really get to anyone. All of the attempts have not turned out the way I wanted. I think I hate her more than any of the others. I want revenge and she's the easiest way hit them all. They all love her. If I get Chloe they will all be miserable. No one will ever forgive themselves when I get her. I'm going to make her suffer and I'm going to make sure they all know exactly what's happening to her so it can kill them all slowly. Let them all rot away in sadness knowing that they couldn't save her."

One of the men wanted to point out that Lex had already started to ruin and play with Chloe's life before she even knew about what Oliver had done to him, but he kept his mouth shut.

"I want revenge and I want her skills. She's a healer and that's what I need. So many experiments ruined and in need of starting over, but if I had her here I could have so much success. She could heal them as they die and I can continue work with them until I get the results I want. She can help me build perfect little soldiers. And that baby, I have plans for her. There's going to be something special about her, I guarantee it. I think the kid would have something to offer me just through her mother's DNA alone, but with her daddy Davis Bloom having alien DNA- I can only think of the possibilities of what I could do with her besides using her against Chloe... Good times are going to come men, good times are going to come," Lex said with a creepy smile before walking out of the room.

All of the men turned to each other and just shook their heads. They were all working for a psychopath. Sure, none of them were particularly good men. All of them had orders from Lex that they tried to carry out, and the things he wanted them to do were horrible. They weren't saints at all, they were not really nice men, but they could all tell that the man they were working for had some screws loose.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Emil, just do it. Tell her you lost hers and that you'll need to do it again. It's not gonna be suspicious because Tess, Lois and Lana seem to be becoming permanent fixtures with the team and we'll need to collect from them, too. You can get what you need from the four of them. Just make sure you do what I asked you to with what you get from Chloe."

"It's not right," Emil said, sighing. "I don't want to lie to her about what I'm doing."

"It's better to lie right now, trust me. If you tell her what you're really doing she's not going to think about anything else until you find out what I want to know. She doesn't need another thing to stress her out right now," Oliver said.

"Okay, but when she finds out what we're really doing today I'm putting all the blame on you. I'm not in the mood to have Chloe mad at me."

"I don't have a problem with that."

"Okay, get out of here so I can get this over with. And could you call Tess so I don't have to?" Emil said, running his hand through his hair.

"She's already on the way."

"Good. I'll see you later, then."

"Bye."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Chloe was nervous. She looked at her father while she bit down on one of her fingers that wasn't on the hand that Rina was touching.

She had no choice, she had to bring him to Watchtower.

He wouldn't stay at Oliver's and he wasn't up for staying at Emil's or Jonn's, and there was no more Talon.

"So what exactly is this place, princess? What do you do here?" Gabe asked Chloe.

Lois watched her cousin squirm nervously while staring at her father.

"Uncle Gabe, the first thing we should get out of the way is to tell you that everything about this place and what goes on in it is secret. And it needs to stay secret. Do you understand me?" Lois said, taking mercy on her cousin and trying to come up with a reasonable lie/truth to tell Chloe's dad.

Chloe closed her eyes and just hoped for the best.

"My mouth stays shut," Gabe said.

Her father being in town completely threw Chloe off. She'd avoided answering so many questions because she knew that her attempts at lying to her father would be pathetic.

She'd much rather let Lois come up with some sort of explanation because her cousin still had her wits about her.

Chloe had no problem lying when she had to. She was quite good at it, actually. But with her dad being here right now she knew her lies to him would probably suck. He probably wouldn't believe a thing, or Chloe would somehow end up telling him too much and freaking him out. She could not have giving her father a heart attack on her conscience.

"Chloe likes to call this place Watchtower," Lois explained. "No one besides a handful of people know what's inside this building and it needs to stay that way, especially for Chloe's sake."

"I won't say anything to anyone."

"Okay, how should I put this for you?" Lois said, thinking for a minute. "I don't want to knock the police department, and I'm not, but everyone knows they never catch _all _of the bad guys. Well, what Chloe and some other people do is catch those bad guys that the police can't catch or aren't aware of... Chloe is the eyes and ears and monitors the streets and stuff like that while there's some other people who patrol the streets at night. You could say that this is headquarters for the town's secret police, I guess. No one knows who the team members are, really, outside of the team itself."

Gabe turned to Chloe. "Let me guess, little girl, you do the 'snooping and hacking' thing, too?" he asked with a small grin.

_Okay, this is good. He believes what Lois said and he just thinks there's a bit of hacking on the side. That's good. No need to explain that most of the team has some kind of out of the ordinary ability, no need to bring up aliens._

Chloe grinned back. "Yeah," she said, nodding.

"You couldn't just have a normal job, could you?" Gabe asked with a little laugh and a shake of his head.

"No. Normal's not really for me," she told him, smiling sadly, remembering Jimmy for a moment.

"I don't remember getting here. I imagine I was still knocked out from when Emil gave me whatever he did. If I ask you how I got here, you're not going to answer me, are you?" Gabe said to his daughter.

"No, I won't. Dad, the less things you know, the better. Trust me. All you need to know is that I'm fine. We're safe here. You're safe here."

"We're staying here?" he asked her, looking around at all the computers. Where was there a spot to relax, let alone sleep?

"Head a bit further in," Lois suggested, grinning.

"Okay, comfier," Gabe said, nodding in approval when he saw the sofa and television.

"We've got rooms with beds, too. This place could be home if I wanted it to be," Chloe said. "You'll be perfectly comfy here. You can relax. We've got a kitchen, beds, showers and baths, and television."

Gabe wheeled himself back to see the kitchen area, and nodded his head. "You really could live here."

His eyes went to the green refrigerator and he recalled an image. "Your boyfriend was on some news gossip program awhile back, wasn't he? Something about a mystery blonde. I remember seeing a green fridge in one of the pictures. This is that fridge, isn't it? And you're the mystery blonde."

Lois couldn't help but laugh.

Gabe just shook his head.

"Correct on all counts," Chloe said, laughing a bit, too.

"I'm guessing your billionaire boyfriend funds this place. I don't know much about computers, but I know this is some seriously expensive stuff. This building must have cost a lot, too."

"Okay, first thing's first. My guy has a name and you know what it is, so use it. Number two, yeah, Ollie's Mr. Money Bags, but the building is mine."

Her dad raised an eyebrow.

"Jimmy bought it for me. It was my wedding present," Chloe explained, feeling a little bit of anger rising inside of her. When Jimmy and her father were in the same thought, she couldn't help but remember how he had been less than great to Jimmy and how he had refused to come to her wedding.

"Nice gift... Listen, something has been bothering me a little bit, and I'm not judging here or trying to offend."

Chloe took a deep breath and tried to keep her cool. She knew he was going to say something that was going to upset her.

"Three men in a year and a half, Chloe? For some women that's not a lot, but that just doesn't seem like you. You've never been the girl to jump from guy to guy-"

"Are you calling me a whore, dad?" Chloe asked, getting angry, but trying not to.

"Of course not," he not told her. "I'm just saying, it doesn't seem like you. It doesn't seem like you know what you were doing. I mean it's been a bit over a year and a half now since you married Jimmy-"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Chloe said, realizing her father had said three men. "Why'd you say three men? You only know Jimmy and Oliver."

"I came to town not too long after your wedding. I wanted to see you, and I knew you were upset with me. I wanted to come and fix things. I was at one of the coffee shops picking up some sweet things for you as a peace offering. I was heading to the Talon to surprise you when I saw you just a few feet away with some random guy who definitely was not Jimmy. You two were sitting and laughing and he was holding your hand. The look of happiness in your face, that specific look wasn't a look a friendly adoration... Did you cheat on, Jimmy? I don't really know anything about what happened."

"Rina, hey pretty girl, you're gonna stay with Auntie Lo for a minute," Chloe said to the baby, handing her to Lois.

"I did _not _cheat on my husband, thank you very much. You'll be happy to hear, I'm sure, that you were right about one thing. My marriage did not last very long, and it wasn't Jimmy's fault... Davis wasn't just some random guy, dad. He really loved me. We were together for awhile-"

"What happened? Why didn't it last?" her father asked her.

"He died. Jimmy died and so did Davis," Chloe said, leaving it at that. She had no desire at all to talk to her father about this.

"I'm sorry," her father told her.

She just nodded.

"Do you see what I'm thinking though, do you see what it all seems like?" Chloe's dad asked her. "Your marriage didn't last because you two never were supposed to be together, so you fell into the arms of this Davis guy. Davis died and not that long after I'm assuming- you got with Oliver... It doesn't seem really like you've been thinking. Maybe you were lonely and you just kept falling for the guys who popped up and were sweet. Did you ever think about why you're with Oliver besides the baby? Are you sure you really want to be with him?"

Chloe was biting down on her knuckles to keep herself from completely snapping at her father.

"Daddy," she said, keeping her voice calm, "I love you, but you know nothing about my life in the past couple years. You don't know anything about my guys- past or present. You don't know how or why I loved before and love now... Jimmy was a good man who loved me very much. I loved him too, dad. You make it sound as if I never loved him, and that's just not true. Davis- I don't need to explain anything to you, dad... I'm gonna tell you about Oliver, though, because he's not going anywhere.

"I love him. I love him so much, daddy. After the funeral, and for months after that I was broken. I was in pieces. Except for Lois, at one point or other and some for much shorter periods of time than others, everyone who was important in my life- I was mad at. I felt so alone. I felt hurt. I closed myself off from everyone for the most part. I wasn't the nicest person... You may think that things with Oliver happened fast, and that's fine, but you need to understand that my relationship with him is very real. I was totally single for months, trust me, I didn't jump into this relationship with Oliver right away. My choice to be with him isn't about needing to be with a guy to try to get over another one, and I'm not with him because of the baby.

"I like to think that the pieces are all put back together now, that I'm fixed. I don't feel broken anymore, and that's mostly because of Oliver. He's been perfect. I tried to push him away so many times. He didn't let me. He didn't give up on me. He _gets _me, dad. He makes me happy. I want him. I love him, plain and simple. I'd like your support, but I'll be fine without it, too."

Lois smiled. It was sweet to hear Chloe talk about Oliver.

To Chloe's surprise, her father smiled. "That's the right response. That's what I needed to hear. I needed to hear some fight in your voice. I needed to see your face. I just wanted to know if he really is good for you, if you really are completely serious- if this is something I should put my support behind. If you feel this strongly, I can give Oliver a chance. I can believe that it's serious... Don't be angry at me, princess, my opinion on you and Jimmy was never going to change even if you had a reaction like this back then, but this is how you should have responded to me. You should have told me all about how I knew nothing about you guys and explained how much you loved him. You would have put up more of a fight if you didn't at least agree with me somewhat. I know Jimmy loved you, that was plain as day when I saw him, but you weren't meant to be with him. Part of you knew I had a point. But that's the end of the Jimmy talk. I heard what I needed to hear. I'll give Oliver a chance."

Chloe just stayed quiet because she wasn't really sure what to say. She just bit her lip.

"Alright now, is somebody going to bring me my granddaughter? I think it's time that I got to hold her and learn her name."

Lois brought the baby over.

"Umm, dad, I'm just warning you- don't be offended or anything, but I don't think she likes men too much, at least not at the beginning. She'll soften up to you with a little bit of time. Me and Lois are the only ones she's never cried with."

"Chloe holds her and she instantly stops crying. Give her like two seconds with me and then she's happy too, right from very beginning," Lois said, grinning. Yes, she'd admit it, she totally loved that the baby seemed to love her, too.

Chloe cringed a bit. Her dad looked excited. Sure, Rina was fine with Clark now, and Bart too as Lois told her, but that hadn't happened on their first encounter. She didn't want her dad to be disappointed.

Once again, Chloe was surprised. Rina did not cry once when Lois handed her over to Gabe.

Lois watched Gabe and Rina. A question that Oliver asked her earlier was back in her head again, and now she couldn't get it out.

"I think she likes me," Gabe said, grinning.

"I think you're right," Chloe said, laughing a bit. "Dad, meet Rina."

"Pretty name," he said.

"I definitely think so," Chloe said, nodding. She paused for a moment before her next question. "Are you gonna be stubborn again, tomorrow, dad?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gabe said.

Lois snorted in the corner. "Yeah right," she laughed.

"Are you going to accept the offer to stay at Oliver's awesome place? I'm not letting you stay at some hotel. I won't let you be alone." Chloe said.

Gabe sighed. "Listen, I really am going to give the guy a chance, but I'm not comfortable with the idea of staying at his place. If it's okay with you, I wouldn't mind staying here. And I'll stay out of your way, don't worry. I won't interfere with your secret work stuff. I'll mind my business. I'll hang out with the mini-princess, here," he said, pointing at Rina.

She'd have to be careful, but she could manage to do her actual work even with her dad around, she thought. She might have to be a bit creative, but she thought the situation could work. It wouldn't be easy, but she'd find a way to deal with it all. She wasn't going to leave her dad out alone in some hotel, not when she was worried for his safety and not with his broken leg.

It was horrible that his leg was broken, but Chloe was relieved to hear that that was all that it was. Emil's worries that it might have been something else didn't turn into realities. Her dad would be okay with some time.

"We can do that," Chloe told her dad.

"You hungry, Uncle Gabe?" Lois asked, remembering that the man hadn't eaten at all since she'd seen him.

"Me and Lois can't really make you anything because we suck at that, but we've got a whole bunch of stuff that we can throw in the microwave that tastes pretty awesome," Chloe said, wanting to smack herself for not offering her dad anything. He hadn't eaten anything as far as she knew.

"What do you have in that freezer? Anything with chicken?"

"There's pasta/chicken dinner things and some TV dinners with chicken," Lois said, looking in the freezer.

"TV dinner sounds good, thanks."

Chloe went over to Lois and quietly asked her. "You good to keep him company while I deal with the team patrol stuff later?"

"Yeah, I can keep him distracted," Lois said.

"Good," Chloe said, leaning her head against the fridge for a moment.

"Did you hack into the birth registry yet?" Lois asked.

"Yeah, this morning before I headed off with Clark," Chloe told her. "Rina's in there now. According to the birth registry Chloe Sullivan has a daughter."

"Speaking of Rina, if Ollie's not back by tomorrow or he tries to bail on baby shopping, you totally have a shopping partner in me."

"Sounds good," Chloe said. "There's a lot of stuff I've got to get. Here's another night without a crib. The bed is fine if I'm beside her for now but she needs a crib. Babies aren't meant for big beds. Lex better not try to pull any crap tomorrow, I've got baby stuff to buy."

Lois just laughed at the last part.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A few hours after Chloe guided Clark's patrol, between the both of them Chloe and Lois were able to get Gabe out of the wheelchair he was in and into one of the many beds at Watchtower.

"Role reversal now, huh?" Chloe teased. "I'm tucking you into bed."

"Very nice, make fun of the guy with the broken leg," he said, trying to sound serious.

"Goodnight, dad. I really am happy to see you. I would have liked it to be under less dangerous circumstances, but I'm still happy."

"I'm happy, too," he told her. "Now you need to try to get some sleep of your own. Goodnight to you, too."

Chloe walked back into the other room where Lois was sitting on the couch with a sleeping Rina in her lap.

Chloe held out her arms. "Pass her over, Lo. You need to go get some sleep. You have to head to the Planet in the morning."

"I'll pass her over, but I'll stay right here. I shouldn't go to sleep while you're probably even more tired than me," Lois said, yawning.

"Your job requires you to be in the presence of people- you need sleep to be coherent in the morning, not just for appearances sake, but for your job's, too," Chloe laughed. "You've been babysitting almost all day. Our home no longer exists. You could have been killed today, too. I say you're more than entitled to some sleep."

"I'm not moving. I'm staying here with you. I'll keep you company cuz I know you're not going to be going to sleep anytime soon."

"You're sweet, but just because I'm a freak and won't be able to sleep for awhile doesn't mean you should suffer... If your eyes start to close- let them."

Lois was stubborn and forced herself to stay awake for another few hours, but then she couldn't do it anymore. She finally gave in and went to sleep.

Chloe was physically tired, but her eyes were not ready to close. Chloe sat on the couch, holding and watching the baby sleep. There was something amazing about watching her sleep. It didn't take too long for Rina to wake up, though.

"What's up, cuteness?" Chloe asked, seeing Rina's eyes open. "Not tired anymore, I guess. I think it's about time to give you another bottle," she said, getting up.

Chloe got a bottle ready for the baby and finally felt the need for sleep to creep up on her.

"Drink up, pretty girl, then we're gonna go to sleep. Well, I'm going to finally go to sleep and you're gonna go _back_ to sleep. That's the plan. Does it sound good to you?" Chloe asked as Rina drank the bottle.

"I see that you're giving the boys a chance today. Clark, my dad and apparently Bart, too. Wanna do me a favour, baby?" Chloe whispered. "Ollie says he's gonna make an effort with you- you think you can give him a chance, too? That would be pretty awesome."

Chloe laughed at herself, talking to the baby like she understood what she was saying.

Rina finished the bottle and was clearly not ready to go back to sleep.

"Okay, we can just hang out here for a bit more," Chloe said, taking a seat on the sofa again.

Chloe's eyes went to the camera system and she was pleasantly surprised at who she saw coming into Watchtower.

"Look who's here, Rina," Chloe said, pointing up at the camera. "Oliver's here and he's got some kind of big box with him."

"What's up Arrow?" Chloe asked, grinning, when Oliver walked through the doors of this floor.

"I knew you two would still be awake," Oliver said in greeting, putting down what he was carrying. "I totally made a good call," Oliver told her, pleased with himself.

"What is that huge box you brought? And why are you back? You're meeting could not have already happened. Come sit," Chloe said, yawning.

"I may have gotten Victor to hack into some computers and change the meeting time," Oliver said, grinning now, too.

"You're horrible," Chloe laughed.

"I went to the place we were going to hold the meeting and I got in contact with the other parties, asking if they had decided that they no longer wanted to do business with Queen Industries. They were confused as to why I was asking that. I told them that that was the assumption I was making because there was no one present at our meeting place. They said I must have made a mistake, but I told them it must be their mistake and to double check the time they had written down. Anyway, they made their way over pretty quick. We got it all over and done with and then I headed back here, but I made a stop first. I may or may not have made a call and got someone to open up the 'Everything Baby' store after it had already been closed for a whole bunch of hours and picked up a crib- or well, it will be a crib soon. I just have to put it all together."

"You, lover boy, totally rock," Chloe told him happily.

"This one you can just keep here. We'll go get another one for the house tomorrow," Oliver said, opening up the huge box.

"You get a proper bed today, Rina. Yay," Chloe said. "Now I don't have to be paranoid about accidentally turning over on my side in my sleep and squishing you."

Oliver just laughed as he went to grab the stuff he would need to put the crib together.

"Thank you for this," Chloe said, meaning it.

"You're welcome," he told her. "It's no biggie. So, who's here?"

"Lois and my dad," Chloe said, trying not to yawn again.

"He's not gonna take me up on my offer?" Oliver asked, laughing.

"You knew he wouldn't," Chloe told him, laughing too.

"Yeah," Oliver admitted. "But I had to at least offer," he said, motioning Chloe over to him.

"You're mean," Chloe told him, pretending to pout. "I don't wanna move," she said, getting up again.

"What did you tell your dad about this place?" he asked her quietly.

"There was no mention of green leather and bows and arrows, or aliens and meteor powers. Lois told him we're basically a second police force, a secret one. He's good with that, he's not going to interfere or ask questions. Lois kept him occupied during patrols. Oh, and Rina adores him. No crying."

"That's good," Oliver said, his mind going back to an earlier thought.

"Where'd you go?" Chloe asked him, chuckling. "You spaced out there for a minute."

"Sorry," he said.

"You must be tired."

"You too," Oliver said, smirking as Chloe yawned once more.

They continued on, just talking about small stuff as Oliver put the crib together.

When the crib was set up and ready Chloe went to grab a couple blankets from one of the beds. She handed the blankets to Oliver and asked him to put them inside of the crib.

"If she hadn't just fallen asleep, I would totally clap right now. You deserve a round of applause," Chloe said.

She put Rina down into the crib and whispered for the baby to have sweet dreams.

"Shoes off, Queen," Chloe ordered. "We're going to lie down."

"Yes ma'am," Oliver said, laughing.

Chloe pulled him over to the couch.

"Lie down, mister. You're gonna be my mattress tonight," Chloe said, laughing sleepily.

"I have _no _problem with that," Oliver said, smirking.

"I didn't think you would," Chloe said, lying on top of him.

She rested her head against him and closed her eyes.

"So, anything you want to tell me?" Chloe asked. She couldn't help but feel like there was something she was supposed to know.

"Other than 'I love you', no, not really. Nothing new or big going on," Oliver said, kissing her head. "Anything you want to tell me?"

_There's definitely something up. There's something you're not telling me. _"I'm just warning you from now, shopping tomorrow might just take all day. You've been warned so I don't want to hear any kind of complaining."

"Thanks for the heads-up. Anything else?" he asked.

"I know you saw the bag with a bunch of money in it," Chloe said. "Why don't you just ask me where I got it, I know you're wondering about it," she said, rubbing his hand.

"You said something about Davis leaving behind money last night. Is that it?" he asked.

"Yep, that's it," she answered.

"Is there a story behind it?"

"If there is, do you want to know about it?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"When Davis and I left town, I had no intention of coming back here, no intention to let anyone ever find out where we were, but part of Davis thought that maybe there would be a day where you guys might track us down. If that was to happen, he figured that you guys would have finally found a way to finally really kill him. And he was worried that you guys might not accept me anymore. He didn't want me to be stuck alone and feel like I had no one left who cared in this town... He told me that if anything were to happen he didn't want me to have to have to stay in Smallville if I couldn't bear to be there anymore, so he put away a lot of money for me to use for whatever I needed to get out of Smallville, or even if I chose to stay, he wanted me to have it for anything I needed. He told me that I'd taken care of him and he just wanted to be able to do the same thing for me...

"I've never touched that money or had any intention to because that's not really me. I like to take care of myself, but Rina's here now. It was time to go get it. She's his daughter. That's the perfect use for his money. I'll keep some on the side for her when she's older and I'll use some for the stuff she needs now. It wouldn't be right to let that money sit there with no one using it, not when he has a kid. It's only right that it be used for her. It was only right that I went to get it... And you can say it, you were jealous again," Chloe laughed, poking him. "I can just see the thoughts running through your head- _ it takes quite the effort to convince her to let me get her anything and here she goes seeking out a mini-fortune that Davis left behind for her. _You know that's what you were thinking," she teased.

Her eyes stayed closed but she knew the look on Oliver's face would have confirmed what she just said.

"You're wrong," Oliver said, laughing, not even bothering to try to lie convincingly.

"You're a bad liar," Chloe said, opening here eyes and pulling herself up a little so that she could place a kiss on his lips. "And there's something you're not telling me. I just want you to know that I'm aware of that. I'm thinking that Emil is somehow involved, but I might be wrong about that. He just seemed kind of jumpy around me before. I'm not gonna push it any farther than this because all I really want is to just lie down here with you in peace right now, but maybe that's something you should keep in mind for when we wake up later. If you don't tell me, I might just have to start putting an effort into finding out what it is- and we both know that when I put an effort into something, I almost always get what I want."

"It's nothing bad, I swear," Oliver told her. "You don't need to worry about it. You've got enough on your plate right now. Trust me when I say that you don't need to be worried. It has nothing to do with you." _Okay, well that last part is a lie, but it's for the best right now._

"See, I told you, I knew something was up," she said, smacking him lightly.

"But it's got nothing to do with you. So it's not something I can talk about. And it's not bad either, it's just something I have to keep in confidence," he told her, taking her hand and kissing it.

"Okay then, see, that's all I needed to hear. I know it's hard to believe, but I actually _am _capable of minding my own business," she told him, closing her eyes again.

Oliver just laughed.

"Oh yeah," Chloe said, yawning yet again. "Official words from my father."

"Oh my, should I be afraid?" Oliver asked, amused and curious.

"He said he's gonna give you a chance."

"You two talked about me?" Oliver asked, grinning.

"Maybe," Chloe smiled.

"And you told him all about how much you love me?" he asked again, grinning some more.

"Maybe," she replied again, her smile not going anywhere.

"I'm flattered," Oliver laughed.

"Shut up," she told him, chuckling. "It's sleep time."

"Goodnight, Sidekick."

"Nighty night, Arrow."


	32. Chapter 32

**o-0-o-0-o Hey everyone, I'm back : ) I'm in school again and it just steals so much of my time. I cannot wait for it to be over. Graduation cannot come soon enough. Okay lol personal little rant on school is done and over with. Thanks to whatweareafraidof, Raya, morning1, Madlenita, GoChlollie and Bree for reviewing. This was supposed to be out to you all last week, but I apparently deleted the chapter so I had to start again. So I started it again, but lost a lot of it. I didn't really want to put this short bit out because I had a lot more in the chapter, but I don't want to go without at least another small addition to the story because I'm not sure when I'll get the next update out. I have no time to re-write what I had lost at this point because school is ridiculous, but I hope this little bit will be at least a tiny bit of a good thing. Hope you'll enjoy this little chapter o-0-o-0-o**

"Oh for God's sake Chloe, get the hell out of here," Tess said, rolling her eyes.

Chloe glared at the other woman. "Shut up," she said.

"You're friggin' paranoid. Everything's fine here. The kid loves your father, they're having fun. I'm gonna become more familiar with this place of yours, but I'm not gonna touch anything I wasn't already shown, and your dear buddy will soon be by to check on everything to make sure we're all still alive and that I didn't somehow screw up your whole system here at Watchtower. The kid's still gonna be in one piece, and alive and here, and so will Watchtower and your daddy- now go away please. I have a huge headache and your voice is just making it worse."

Chloe muttered something under her breath as she walked passed Tess and over to her father and Rina.

"You be good, okay, cuteness?" Chloe said, smiling down at Rina. "You be good and then I'm gonna come back with tons of awesome stuff for you. Sound good to you?"

Rina's eyes opened a bit wider and she touched Chloe's face.

This baby was the most adorable thing in the world. Chloe's heart swelled a little.

"I'll take that as a yes," Chloe said, giving the baby a quick kiss. "Is a baby touching your face supposed to make you feel weak in the knees?" she asked her father, laughing.

"I don't know if it's supposed to, but I know that that's what used to happen to me," Gabe said, giving Chloe a wink.

"Come on, Sullivan. You wanted to shop today, let's get out there while it's still today," Oliver said, just laughing.

"Don't over-exaggerate, Queen. There's still plenty of hours left in the shopping day," Chloe said, walking over to him.

"Good, now keep walking, Chloe," Tess said. "Out the door."

"You're such a bitch," Chloe said, but she couldn't help but laugh.

"Two peas in a pod, you and I," Tess said, smirking.

"Okay for real now everybody, Bye," Oliver said, taking Chloe's hand and heading out.

Chloe looked at the watch on Oliver's wrist. "Oh wow, is it actually that time, already?"

"Yeah Professor," Oliver laughed. "It's been a good hour since you said we were heading out. You still wanna walk over to my place and pick up my car or do you just want me to call for someone to come pick us up?"

"I want some fresh air," Chloe said. "Let's walk."

"I want to hear what your dad thinks of Tess later on," Oliver said, grinning.

"That would involve you actually staying around him for more than a couple minutes at a time," Chloe said, elbowing him gently. "It's hilarious that you're scared of him."

"I'm not scared of your dad. I'm just not particularly eager for an interrogation right now."

"Sure, sure," Chloe said, shaking her head and laughing.

"So, I already talked to Dinah, A.C. and Victor and they're going to keep their distance from Watchtower for awhile, just so we keep the number of people your dad sees and associates with us from getting too big."

"You didn't have to do that, Ollie," Chloe said as they crossed the street. "My dad isn't going to tell anyone anything about anyone that happens to be in Watchtower or anything that goes on there."

"I don't doubt that, Chlo, but it's better this way. We can't just show everything to anyone who's not officially in it with us. And plus, he doesn't need to be crowded by too many people he doesn't know. He's here for _you_, Sidekick. Besides Tess and maybe Bart, I think it's better that the only other people he sees at Watchtower are people he knows."

"You're right," she sighed.

"So what's it like having your dad around again, really?"

Chloe shrugged and smiled. "Half of the time he's been driving me nuts, but the rest of the time-"

"You're happy as hell to have him close-by," Oliver said, finishing for her.

Chloe nodded.

"It's nice seeing you with him. When you're not annoyed or mad with him, there's this really nice calm about you. There's a clear air of contentment. You've really missed him, haven't you?"

"I wouldn't really think about it too much, before, but yeah, I've missed him a lot. And now that he's back in town, I don't even want to think about him leaving. I want him near me. I want him near me so that I can make sure nothing happens to him, and just because it feels nice."

"So I really need to stop avoiding him huh?" Oliver asked. "You don't plan on letting him go anywhere."

Chloe grinned. "Yeah, you gotta suck it up. You're not going to be able to avoid him for too long."

"Well, if he's mean to me, you're going to have to be _really _nice to me to make me feel better, Professor," Oliver said, winking.

"That can definitely be arranged, Ollie," Chloe said, laughing.

"If one finger touches me, I promise you that kids will never be in your future, little man. That's your warning. Don't doubt me for one second."

As Chloe and Oliver got closer to his home, they both stopped in their tracks and looked for the body that that voice belonged to. It was Lois.

She was staring down a very angry looking man.

"Give me the damn tape," the man yelled, moving closer to Lois, and looking furious.

It looked like he might hit her.

Chloe and Oliver ran over.

Oliver pushed the guy away.

"Hey guys," Lois said casually. She wasn't scared of this guy.

"What the hell is going on?" Chloe asked.

"This guy is a shady little shit and now everyone is going to know about it because I'm putting it in tomorrow's edition of the Planet," Lois said, smirking. "He's not too happy that I'm going to expose him."

"Stay out of this rich-boy," the man spat after Oliver shoved him.

"I don't think so," Oliver said. "Whatever the hell you've done is already going to get published. I strongly advise you to walk away now before one or more of four things will happen- I kick your ass, Lois kicks your ass, her cousin kicks your ass, and I make things a lot worse for you than just having whatever crap you pulled today get published in the newspaper."

The man glared at Oliver but didn't say a word.

"You're going to go away now," Oliver said calmly.

The man muttered some obscenities but eventually he did leave.

"Thanks for the rescue, but I didn't need it. I kinda wish I would have had a reason to kick him in the nuts," Lois said, laughing a little.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Chloe asked.

"I'm perfectly fine, cuz," Lois grinned. "I've got an awesome story. So thanks again, but everything's fine and I've gotta run because I've got another assignment I'm supposed to be working on," Lois said, heading off.

"I think it must be in your DNA or something. You two are magnets for trouble," Oliver said, laughing as Lois dashed off.

The man who had been threatened by Oliver was pissed off. That Lane chick caught him and he wasn't going to get away with anything now, but the rich-boy Queen had just pissed him off far more than the nosy reporter. He wasn't some thug who solved his problems with major violence, so it's not like he could get any sort of real physical revenge on the billionaire, but what he could do was piss him off. He'd heard that this Oliver Queen guy had been a lot more private these days. He hadn't really been flashing on anyone's local entertainment news screens, well, that was going to get ruined. If Oliver Queen got to threaten him and talk to him like he was a loser, the least he could do back to Queen was ruin his day. He knew some people in the media. He pulled out his phone and proceeded to tell a member of the local paparazzi where Oliver Queen was.

"Hope you like it when you end up on the news tonight, jerk. You're not going to get to be so private anymore," the man muttered, continuing to walk away. "Let them follow you around today and see how you like it when you end up on TV tonight."


	33. Chapter 33

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks to Raya, ica013, Bree, morning1, GoChlollie and Madlenita for commenting on the last chapter. Here's the new one and it's not tiny this time lol. I will try to get you guys another update sooner rather than later, but I can't guarantee anything for sure with the way school keeps piling things on me. What I can guarantee you though, is come beginning or mid- April, the updates will definitely be a lot more frequent because I'll finally be done school. Hope you'll enjoy the chapter, I had fun writing it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o**

"I thought that maybe I was just being paranoid, so I didn't say anything, but I still see them. Someone is following us, Ollie," Chloe said, keeping her eyes on the side mirror of the car.

"Oh, I know, Sidekick," Oliver told her. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to freak you out, and I wanted to see if you noticed."

Chloe just rolled her eyes.

"You'd think Lex would hire people who knew how to be discreet. What a dumbass," Oliver said, glancing sideways at the mirror on his side of the car.

"Whatever, I doubt that they're gonna try any kind of crap in broad daylight with people all over the streets," Chloe said, keeping her eyes glued to the small mirror on her side.

"They're either trying to freak us out, or they're going to follow us and try to find where Watchtower is. Those are my guesses," Oliver told her.

"I don't particularly care what these idiots are trying to do. I'm just plain sick and tired of this shit. I've got things to do, and a life to live. Honestly, I'd love nothing more right now than to just find Lex and shoot him in the face and end all of this," Chloe said angrily. "Don't you dare try to change directions, Ollie. We're going shopping. They can follow us all they friggin' want. I'm not putting off shopping for Rina again," Chloe said, pulling out her phone.

"Who are you calling?" Oliver asked.

"Tess," Chloe said, narrowing her eyes and looking closer at the car mirror.

"We're all alive. The baby's having fun. Everything is sunshine and daisies," Tess said, answering the phone. "Seriously, what the hell do you want now?"

"Oh shut up." Chloe said. "NNE 433. Run that license plate number. Tell me what comes up. Someone's following us."

Tess was quiet for a moment as she looked for the information. Then she started to laugh.

"You wanna tell me what the hell is funny about being followed by some of Lex's minions?" Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

"You're not being followed by Lex's goons," Tess said, and Chloe could just picture the smirk that was on her face. "That plate belongs to Miranda Leyand."

"Ugggh," Chloe mumbled in complaint.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"It's not anyone working for Lex," Chloe said.

"You've got the host of our resident little gossip news show on your trail, Chloe. Have fun," Tess said, hanging up the phone.

"That car belongs to Miranda Leyand," Chloe told Oliver. "A.k.a. the celebrity gossip news queen."

"Seriously?" Oliver said.

"Yep," Chloe sighed. "Ollie, please just try to lose them. I don't want to deal with that crap any more than I want to see any of Lex's losers. We do not need to wind up as tonight's gossip. I don't need us to pop up on screens in a baby store."

"What do you wanna bet that it was that loser who was getting in Lois's face before that called up the precious paparazzi?"

"I'm not betting anything. That's _totally_ who called them up," Chloe said.

"Give me a few minutes, I'll lose them," Oliver assured her.

Chloe grabbed onto her seat as Oliver turned the car abruptly onto a side road. "Holy crap, Ollie!"

"You want to shop in peace, don't you?" Oliver said, laughing.

"I do. Okay, proceed with driving like a maniac," Chloe said, just shaking her head.

Oliver made all sorts of crazy turns here and there, driving around like a freak for about fifteen minutes before parking the car.

"Let's go."

"You're gonna leave your car here?" Chloe said, looking at him like he was crazy.

Oliver pulled out his phone and called someone. He gave them the location of his car and told them to come pick it up. He ended that call and then called someone else.

He motioned Chloe to follow him as he started to walk down the quiet street they had ended up on.

Chloe started to walk as she heard him tell someone to bring the least flashy looking car they could find to a location just up the road and to be there quick.

"What are you doing, Ollie?" Chloe asked.

"I think we'll be good for at least another few minutes before Miss Leyand finds us, if she's still looking at all. And in a few minutes you and me will be out of here and in a completely different car while the one she was following and would continue to follow if she happens to come here, will be going off in a completely different direction."

"And I get to shop in peace. Okay, I like this plan," Chloe said, grinning.

"I wanted to ask you, but I just kept forgetting, what's your opinion on Tess? I know that you're the one who gave her a chance in the first place, and I know I kinda asked that before and that you gave me an answer, but I just want you to be honest. Have you changed your mind? Are you still good with Tess working with us?"

"I'm fine with it, Ollie. I haven't changed my mind. It might seem like it came out of nowhere, but honestly, I trust her. I don't need a new best buddy. We get along well enough at this point, actually. The bitching at each other is actually kind of amusing. I don't need help, and the team doesn't need help, but we'd be stupid to turn away someone who's smart and tough. Victor and Emil, and even the other team members do fine with some Watchtower stuff, but they've got other gigs, you know?" Chloe said quietly, even though there was no one around.

Oliver nodded. "I just want to make sure it's fine with you. I don't want you to pretend like it's fine just because she's a good addition if you're really not okay with it."

"I'm really okay with it. In fact, I think it's kind of great. If I'm in a bad mood and Tess is around it'll be perfect. I can throw bitchiness at her and she doesn't flinch. We do bitchy banter well."

"God help the poor idiot that ever happens to piss the both of you off at the same time," Oliver joked.

Chloe just laughed as they walked a bit more.

"Wanna hear what the latest chatter is around my office?" Oliver said after a couple minutes, keeping an eye out for cars.

"Do tell," Chloe said.

"Apparently since when you and I ended up on the news that day we went to see your mom people are thinking that I might be settling back into my old ways. Apparently the precise words were my 'drunken, whoring playboy ways.' And apparently some people were making comments like maybe if that was the case, I'm not really fit to be in charge."

"Seriously?" Chloe said. "What the hell?"

"I've always known that some of the older guys hated my guts. They're just trying to cause trouble," Oliver said.

"I don't even work for QI, yet I know for a fact that at least 6 of your relatively high-up guys are cheating on their wives- some of them with _more_ than one mistress," Chloe said, shaking her head. "You have cheaters on staff and people are saying you're out whoring- and hey I kind of _majorly_ object to that."

"A bunch of stupid, idiot old men is what they are."

"Could they really cause you legitimate trouble?" Chloe asked.

"A few idiots, no," Oliver told her. "Just wanted to let you know the latest crap, that's all," he said, feeling guilty for going behind her back yesterday, feeling the need to tell her something in place of not telling her about the other thing.

"Speaking of crap," Chloe said, remembering something she had wanted to bring up earlier.

Oliver had given her an answer last night when she told him she knew that there was something he wasn't telling her. She believed him last night because she was tired, but she wasn't really buying it today.

Oliver had the feeling he was about to get confronted, and was extremely happy when he saw one of the guys who drove for him pull up.

"Car's here, Chlo. Let's get in."

"That was fast. Good stuff," Chloe said, not forgetting about the thing she wanted to say, but unwilling to talk in front of another person, and just happy to be getting off the street and into a different car.

As soon as they started to drive, the other guy Oliver called arrived and got into the car they were previously in.

As they were driving away Chloe caught a glimpse of the car that had been following them before and she grinned as it sped off after the car they were no longer in.

"Told you I'd get them off our backs," Oliver said, nudging her.

"You did, and you delivered. Thank you."

The man who was driving asked where they wanted to go and Chloe told him. He raised his eyebrow at the mention of the baby store, and this didn't go unnoticed by Chloe and Oliver.

Oliver just shook his head, while Chloe rolled her eyes.

Both Chloe and Oliver opened their mouth to say something, but the man who was driving just shook his head.

"It's not my business. You don't have to explain anything to me."

Chloe and Oliver seemed to be happy with his statement because neither of them was particularly sure what they were going to say anyway.

When they got to the store, the man who was driving threw a baseball cap at Oliver.

"Thanks," Oliver said.

"No problem," the man said before driving away.

"You look adorable," Chloe said, teasing Oliver as he put the hat on.

"Move your ass, Sullivan," Oliver said, laughing, putting his hand on Chloe's shoulder, moving her forward. "Oh wow, this place is freakin' huge," Oliver said as they walked into the store. "We're gonna be here for a long time, aren't we?" Oliver asked, already sounding tired.

Chloe laughed at him. "Probably."

Chloe still wanted to talk to him about the thing she had started to bring up before, but once again, this wasn't the place to do that.

"Where are we going first, Professor?" Oliver asked. "Holy crap, that's a lot of pink," he said, spotting a large display.

"Let's start with all that pink," Chloe said, laughing, pushing the questions she had for Oliver aside. They would get to that later. Right now was shopping time, and Chloe was going to enjoy it.

"This stuff is so tiny," Oliver said, picking up a package of baby socks.

"Yeah, well babies' feet are tiny, so it all works out well," Chloe said, amused.

"You with your tiny hands- look _your_ finger is bigger than this sock. How can someone's feet be so tiny?"

Chloe just kept laughing. Oliver was _so_ out of his element.

Chloe took the socks from Oliver and put them in the cart, and moved over to the next section.

Oliver was thinking about what he had asked Emil to do yesterday, and he really wanted to know what he had figured out. Emil had told him he would need at least a couple days to get him an answer to what he wanted to know, in addition to the results from the various other tests that had been done. Two days- it had been one so far- he might have some answers tomorrow. Being in this store with Chloe right now, shopping for baby things, made tomorrow feel extra far away.

He wanted an answer right now. There were two possible answers that Emil could give him. Yes and no. Oliver was almost certain that his feelings would change on their own if the answer was yes. If the answer was no, Oliver would have to make his feelings change. He told Chloe he was going to make an effort with Rina and he wasn't going to break his promise. One answer would just make everything a lot easier, though.

Chloe was going to be mad at him if she found out why he had Emil do what he asked him to do. She would be mad that he didn't bring the subject up with her and ask her what she thought. She would be pissed off that he and Emil were being so secretive about something that was most definitely her business.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head when he turned his attention back to Chloe.

She had a big smile on her face as she pulled a dress off one of the racks.

"Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life?" Chloe asked.

He wasn't looking at the dress though, just Chloe.

She was smiling, and she was beautiful and she was happy.

_It doesn't matter what answers Emil has tomorrow. Chloe adores the baby. She's happy and smiling even though Lex is up to no good. That baby makes her happy and that's the important thing. I'll deal with whatever we find out. I'll find a way to make this all work. I'll suck it up. _

There were always these random moments here and there that would just make Oliver stop and stare at her for a little while. Moments when he would watch her work and see the dedication to what she was doing in her eyes. Moments where she would be angry and arguing or annoyed with him and still manage to be concerned about him. Moments where she would do something unconsciously like bite her lip or twist her hair around her finger. Moments where something small would elicit a big reaction, whether it was something she worried about or something just like this- getting joy out of looking at a dress for a baby. These moments made him love her even more. These moments, just really made him want to make her happy.

"It just might be," Oliver answered, not even bothering to look at the dress. He much preferred looking at Chloe

"What?" Chloe said, catching him watching her.

"Nothing," Oliver said, shrugging, giving her a smile.

"I'm _so _getting this," Chloe told him, putting the dress into the shopping cart.

Oliver looked into the cart to see what she had put in there while he was in his own little world.

There was the dress she was just flashing at him, a shirt and pant set, what he assumed was a pair of pyjamas, and the socks she had first grabbed.

"I know nothing about kids, Chlo, but if you're buying her socks, don't you think she's going to need more than two pairs?"

"I think she's definitely going to need more socks, but we don't need to drown the little princess in pink. There are other colours out there, and we're gonna get to them in a couple minutes," Chloe said.

"I see. So I'm assuming we're shopping in order of colour then, huh?" Oliver said, noticing that everything in the cart so far was pink. "You've got a system for everything, don't you?"

"Are you making fun of me?" she asked him, sticking out her tongue.

"Never," he said dramatically.

"Yeah right."

"These other colours to pick from- how about green?" Oliver asked, grinning. _I can show some interest. It'll make her happy. Plus, really, I'll never turn down a chance to buy something green._

"Of course you would say green," Chloe said, chuckling. If he was showing even the tiniest amount of interest right now, she was going to indulge him. She had no intention of getting anything green, but if Oliver was doing something that meant he had been thinking about Rina, she'd throw some green stuff into the cart, too. Extra items were not going to hurt Rina. She wanted him to be interested.

"Green is awesome, thank you very much," Oliver told her.

"Okay, okay. Since you're the expert on everything green you pick something," Chloe told him.

"I will," he told her. "And not just one thing. If we're gonna do some green, we need to do it right. She's got to have an ensemble of green. She needs a complete outfit."

Chloe just laughed and rolled her eyes.

Just as Chloe was about to go into the next section, someone else's shopping cart collided with her hip.

"What the hell?" she said, pissed off. That had hurt.

"Sorry," someone said, not sounding sorry at all. "I wasn't paying attention."

Chloe looked over to see who had hit her with their cart. _ Are you freakin' serious? Why the hell do I have to run into her anywhere, but especially here? Uggh!_

"It's fine," Chloe said, turning her gaze away quickly. Maybe she could pretend like she hadn't seen who it was and just walk away quickly.

"Chloe. Running into each other again. It hasn't been long since I saw you last. You still with Hot and Rich?"

_So much for pretending I didn't see her._

Chloe plastered on a fake smile. "Hey Janelle."

"I see you're still with the billionaire," the other woman said, seeing Oliver looking at some green baby things.

"I am. How are you doing?" Chloe asked, pretending to care. She honestly didn't know why Janelle stopped to talk. They didn't like each other, never did. Not in high-school and not the last time she saw her when she was working at the facility where Chloe's mother was.

She probably wanted to talk so she could ogle Oliver.

"Really good. Just found out I was pregnant last week."

"That's nice. Congratulations," Chloe said.

"What about you? What are you doing in this store? You pregnant too?"

"No, I'm not," Chloe said. "Just picking up some things," Chloe said, eager to end the conversation.

"Gifts?" the other woman asked.

Chloe just smiled, not answering.

"Let's see what you've got in the cart over there," Janelle said, approaching Oliver.

"Ollie," Chloe said, trying to get his attention so he could walk away before Janelle got to him.

Oliver heard her but Janelle got there first, he just didn't notice her.

"Before you say it's too much green, I just want to point out that they are very _different _shades of green. You can say they're different colours completely."

Chloe and Janelle both looked down into the cart. Its contents had quadrupled.

"Not pregnant, huh?" Janelle said, smirking. "People don't buy that much clothes for someone else's kid, Chloe."

"I'm not pregnant, Janelle. We like to go all out for our friends, that's all. You're the one who keeps pointing out that Oliver's rich, remember?" Chloe said, gritting her teeth. "It was nice to see you again, but we've got a lot more things we need to pick up, and we're on a tight schedule."

"Don't let me keep you, then," Janelle said. "Nice seeing you, too," she said, flashing the same fake smile at Chloe that she had given to her a moment earlier.

Oliver took this as the cue to start walking to another section.

"Can there be a time when we're out and nothing happens? Something always happens, whether it's encountering annoying people like her, being stalked at a restaurant by Lex's little bastards, or having people with cameras following us around," Chloe grumbled when they were far enough away that the other woman couldn't hear.

"She's gone, don't be grumpy. Get back into your happy shopping mood," Oliver said, giving her a gentle nudge.

She looked into the cart again and couldn't help but laugh. In the span of not even two minutes Oliver had loaded up the cart with a crazy amount of green.

The shopping cart consisted of the pink socks, dress, pant and shirt set, and pyjamas, and 4 repeats of those particular items in various shades of green.

"You're nuts," she told him, laughing, putting Janelle out of her head. "We definitely need to get some more colours in here to balance all this green out."

"Oh come on, Professor, you've got to admit those are some nice shades of green."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, pretending to sound annoyed. "Let's go find some purple, red, white, and yellow stuff. I want her to have some of everything. And then we've go to look at cribs, and a bunch of other stuff."

"This store is going to love you by the time we're done here," Oliver said, grinning. "They're gonna make a crap-load of money."

"You think they'll do free delivery?" Chloe joked.

"I think they'll do just about anything you want when you go to the cash. They'll have no problem kissing your ass, I'm sure," Oliver laughed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Janelle had pulled out her phone as soon as Chloe and her billionaire walked away. She wasn't going to pass up an opportunity like this again.

She'd do it this time, and she couldn't get in trouble for it.

The last time she'd seen Chloe was when Chloe had come with Oliver to visit her mother at the place she was temporarily working at.

She didn't like Chloe then and she didn't like her now.

They weren't friends, so Janelle had no qualms about trying to benefit at Chloe's expense. The same night Janelle saw her, Oliver ended up on the news with someone Janelle knew to be Chloe.

Janelle had stayed late at work that night and saw the program while she was there. The woman on TV kept saying 'the mystery blonde' and Janelle was pretty sure she could make herself some cash if she called the TV station up and was able to give a name and face to the 'mystery blonde' and maybe even give some information on her mother, but one of the older women who worked at the facility seemed to be able to read her mind as she saw her reach for her phone.

"Don't even think about it, missy. If you call those nosy media people up and any information pops up about who that girl is or her mother, you will be in big trouble. You're not allowed to divulge any information on Mr. Queen or Moira Sullivan, so you could lose your job and chances at other jobs in this field for that alone, simply by contract. But I will personally make sure that you _do_ lose the job if you say anything about either of them or that girl he was with. Mr. Queen is a nice man. You just leave him and the young lady alone, you hear me?"

Janelle remembered that conversation so clearly.

She couldn't benefit off of Chloe last time, but she sure could this time. She didn't doubt that she could make a pretty penny off of making a phone call to the people who worked at the gossip show and letting them know that Oliver Queen was shopping at the baby store with the 'mystery blonde'. They were always looking for any kind of celebrity sightings. They even had a phone number that people could call.

Janelle smiled wide when she heard a voice on the other end of her phone.

"Hi. How would you like to know where Oliver Queen is right now, what he's doing and who exactly he's with?"

"You have all of this information?"

"I do. I'm looking at the man right now," Janelle said.

"We're interested. Keep talking."

"Remember your little mystery blonde from the last time you flashed Oliver on the screen- well I know exactly who she is. Before I say anymore, I want to know what's in this for me."

Janelle grinned after the person on the other line told her that there was some money to be made.

"Miss, now tell us the specifics."

"They're at Baby-World. Oliver is here with Chloe Sullivan. Chloe Sullivan is your 'mystery blonde'. We went to high-school together. I'm pretty sure she's pregnant and if she's not she just had a baby or something, even though she doesn't look like that's the case. Chloe said they were on a tight schedule, so I don't know how long they're going to be here. You probably want to hurry," Janelle said.

"We'll be there soon."

"I'll be waiting," she said, smirking.


	34. Chapter 34

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks so much to Raya, Bree, morning1, Madlenita, Hellzz-on-Earth and GoChlollie for the reviews. I love hearing from you guys. So it's April and now I actually have some time on my hands- Yay! Here's the new chapter. Hope you'll enjoy it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o**

Chloe and Oliver laughed as they approached the cash. Chloe was handling two cartfuls of baby things, pushing one in front of her with one hand and pulling another one along from behind with the other. Oliver had three. He was trying to push two carts in front with one hand while dragging one behind him with the other. They were followed by the manager and another employee who were also pushing carts with items Chloe wanted to buy.

In ten minutes, Chloe was able to fill up six additional carts to the one she had put the clothes in. When they got to the cash register the cashier looked up and appeared quite surprised.

"Never had an order this big come through the cash before?" Chloe asked, grinning.

"No, I haven't," the cashier told her, laughing a little. "It makes sense to buy it all like this though, I guess. Buy everything at once instead of taking a bunch of different trips."

"Exactly," Chloe told her, as Oliver started to put things up for the cashier to scan.

"Do you need me to lift these boxes up for you to scan or do you guys have those portable scanners?" Oliver asked.

The cashier looked up to answer him and recognized Oliver's face. "You can keep the boxes in the cart. We've got a portable scanner. Oh wow, you're Oliver Queen!"

Chloe chuckled as Oliver said. "Yep, that's me."

"And the fact that he is here is not to be spread around, Lianne," the manager said.

"I know how to respect someone's privacy. No worries," the cashier responded.

As the cashier neared the end of the order, Oliver turned to Chloe and said, "Can you do me a favour?"

"What?" Chloe asked.

"I can't find my phone. I think I left it at the last place we were, but I don't remember where that is. Can you go check for me? I really shouldn't be losing that."

"Yeah, I'll go," Chloe said, hurrying off.

"Hey, I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but do you think you could speed it up a little? You're not going slow or anything, but I just want to get this done before she gets here again because she's going to try to pay for it," Oliver said quietly to the cashier.

The woman chuckled and quickened her pace.

Oliver had just finished paying and telling the cashier where to deliver the items (Chloe decided on Clark's place again) by the time that Chloe came back.

"I can't find it, Ollie. You better just call and cancel it right now," Chloe said.

"No worries, I just put it in my other pocket and forgot," he told her.

Chloe was about to ask the cashier what the total was when she noticed that a receipt was printing out.

"You pretended to lose your phone so that you could get rid of me so that you could pay for this instead of me. You're so stubborn, Ollie," Chloe said, rolling her eyes. "I can afford this, I can take care of her just fine, Ollie. You know that," Chloe said, forgetting for a second that there was someone else there besides her and Oliver.

"Sorry if I'm overstepping here, Miss," the cashier said, handing the receipt to Chloe."And I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I say just be happy. Too many men are deadbeat losers who don't want to do anything to help take care of their kids, Mr. Queen obviously isn't one of them. That's a good thing. Just save your money."

Before Chloe or Oliver could respond, a crowd of people and several cameras started to approach them.

"Oh no. _Hell _no," Chloe mumbled. "Ollie, we need to get out of here."

Oliver grabbed Chloe's hand and proceeded to walk in the opposite direction of the growing crowd and camera crew.

"This isn't happening. This isn't happening," Chloe muttered, squeezing Oliver's hand.

"Calm down, Professor," he told her as his name was shouted from behind.

"I told you before that I'd find a way to deal with it if this type of thing ever happened, but I can't deal with it, Ollie. I don't want people knowing our business. I want my privacy. I need it, Ollie. There's too much going on already. I can't handle this too. I'm sorry, but I'm freaking out."

"Through here, you two. Come on, hurry up," the store manager said, ushering Chloe and Oliver into an employee-only area.

"Keep going straight, there's an exit at the end of the hall. Hopefully you can get away from them that way," the manager told them.

"Thanks," Oliver said, as they hurried towards the exit.

Oliver pulled out his phone and called the guy who was picking them up. He was already in the parking lot, but he needed to get him to come to the back now instead so they could leave as soon as possible.

"We're gonna be out of here before they find us, Sidekick. Take a breath," Oliver told Chloe.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I told you I'm almost there, Mr. Luthor. You only saw that stupid celebrity tabloid news crap three minutes ago and told me about it two minutes ago."

"I know you can't match Clark Kent, but your specialty is supposed to be speed. You should be at that stupid baby store by now. Get there, grab Chloe, and get gone. You understand me?" Lex asked.

"I understand," said Lex's employee, not particularly happy about what he was supposed to do.

Lex had said himself that he had plans for Chloe, painful plans. This man wasn't overly happy with the idea, but Lex had made it perfectly clear that all his employees were expendable. He wouldn't hesitate to get rid of them in a permanent way, and it was this that made the man ignore the guilty feeling inside of him. He might feel sorry for the Sullivan girl, but if it was her life or his on the line, he would safeguard his own.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Chloe and Oliver almost escaped the cameras and crowd, _almost. _ But they found them just before they could make it into the car. They saw Chloe and Oliver head into the back room and figured they were heading out of another entrance.

"Mr. Queen, we hear that this is the lovely lady we saw you with the last time you were on our program. This must be something serious if you're shopping for a baby together," Miranda Leyand said, as she and her camera crew crowded Chloe and Oliver.

Chloe was extremely close to having a panic attack, and was trying to keep her face out of the cameras' view. She had Oliver's hand in a death grip. She wanted these people to get the hell away from her.

"Ollie, get me out of here," she said, trying to take a deep breath.

"We're really busy. I'd appreciate it if you gave us some room and let us be on our way," Oliver said to the news woman, trying to keep his temper in check. He was a public figure, he couldn't really go freaking out on people, at least not without trying to be polite first.

"So no comment for us, then, Mr. Queen? What about you, Miss Sullivan? Would you classify this relationship as serious?"

Chloe's breath caught in her throat. _Oh my God. They know who I am. No, no. no. _

Chloe felt her knees go weak, and Oliver seemed to know that something like that was going to happen. He put his arm around her waist to keep her steady.

Chloe was trying to focus on remembering to breathe when she felt a strong pull on her arm, like someone was trying to drag her off. Shocked and freaked out or not, when Chloe felt threatened she defended herself.

Her elbow shot out and connected hard with the midsection of the person who had been grabbing her.

The man doubled over in pain for a second, but was back at trying to grab Chloe and take her away fairly quickly.

Oliver noticed what was going on this time. He pulled Chloe back towards him with one arm and used his other to punch the man who put his hands on Chloe in the face.

"Oh goodness. Who is that man? What just happened? Is he okay? Are _you _okay, Miss Sullivan?" Miranda said.

The man staggered backwards and Chloe and Oliver finally got a look at his face. They recognized him. He had been one of the men outside the restaurant awhile back. He worked for Lex.

Before anyone could do anything else, the man steadied himself and then ran off.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked Chloe.

"I'm fine. Let's just get out of here, please," she said quietly, not wanting her voice to be heard.

"Excuse me," Oliver said, trying to move around the cameramen and the gossipy reporter.

They did not want to move.

"I asked you nicely to move. You didn't listen. Now we do things my way," Oliver said, making people move.

If they weren't moving on their own, Oliver was physically moving them out of the way.

They finally made it to the car and their driver sped off immediately.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I saw the whole thing, you idiot. You couldn't even manage to grab her in the midst of all that craziness. You're pathetic. You're becoming more worthless to me with every passing moment. You better be careful because I might just decide to get rid of you very soon."

"She fought back and then Queen got at me. I couldn't get her and I needed to get out of there, I couldn't let my face been seen on camera," Lex's employee said, a hint of pleading could be heard in his voice.

"I don't like excuses. Hurry up and get back here," Lex said, hanging up before the young man could say anything else.

Before the man had the chance to start moving again and get out of the alley he was in, he fell to his knees and was knocked unconscious from a serious blow to the head.

Bart stood over him, throwing his weapon of choice to the ground. He was extremely happy he had decided to stay in town. He had seen what just happened and had taken off after the man who tried to grab Chloe. He remembered being shown that face by Oliver. That guy worked for Lex.

"You don't mess with 'Licious and get away with it. Stupid bastard," Bart said, looking down at the other man, furious.

It didn't take long for Jonn to arrive. Bart let him deal with bringing the man somewhere to be interrogated, while Bart called Oliver to let him know that he had seen what happened and followed Chloe's almost-kidnapper. They would all deal with Lex's man soon enough, but he wanted to see that Chloe was okay with his own eyes and not totally freaking out before that happened.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Clark was waiting in the back of a little cafe, getting ready to speed Chloe away. He was on the phone with her the second she stepped into the car Oliver had waiting for her.

He told her to tell Oliver to get the driver to drop them off of here so that if the stupid camera crew decided to get in their cars to follow them, they'd have no luck in finding them, and especially to get Chloe back to Watchtower and away from anymore grabby hands. This place was only a couple minutes away from the store they were at. Chloe and Oliver clearly had a head start on nosy media people because their car was ready to go, while the crew would have to pack up and get back in their cars.

Oliver turned the corner with Chloe. Clark gave Oliver a nod and grabbed Chloe in a quick hug. "Let's get you out of here," he said, looking around to make sure that they were alone before speeding off with his best friend.

Oliver waited in the back until Lana called him and told him that she was there. She was coming to pick him up and bring him to where Jonn had rushed off to with the guy that Bart had caught.

Oliver couldn't wait until he got near that guy. They would make him talk and he was going to make sure that pain would be involved.


	35. Chapter 35

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks so much to GoChlollie, Raya, Bree. Hellzz-on-Earth, Madlenita, morning1 and kenzieeflynn for commenting/reviewing. I appreciate it. So here's the new chapter. It should have been up on Wednesday but there's been some issues with the computer, but it's all good now. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o**

"You promise me that you're okay?" Lois asked her cousin in a clearly worried voiced.

"He grabbed me, that's all. I'm not hurt. But everyone knows now. I don't need people knowing our business, Lo. When she said my name, I thought I was gonna faint," Chloe said, her fists clenched.

"You didn't get kidnapped honey, focus on the good stuff. I'll see you soon-ish. Stay where you are, don't think about going anywhere. Clark's staying at Watchtower with you, so don't get any ideas about leaving," Lois said.

Chloe rolled her eyes and hung up.

Lois had told Chloe that she had more to do for work, but that wasn't the case at all. Lana had called her up and told her about Bart catching the guy that tried to take Chloe. Lana had been furious about what almost happened to Chloe and knew that Lois would want to get a piece of the guy who tried to take her cousin.

Chloe and Clark were the only two who didn't know that the guy who tried to take Chloe away had been caught.

No one told Clark because he was probably the most moral one of the bunch and no one wanted to chance Clark having objections to some violence being inflicted on the loser. They kept Chloe out of the loop so that she would stay put.

Tess, Oliver, Bart, Lois, Lana, Emil, Jonn, A.C., Dinah and Victor all knew.

Tess made sure to act as if nothing was up, and so did Bart as he arrived to check on Chloe.

Chloe kept looking back at her dad who was sitting on the couch with Rina. Tess had told Chloe that he didn't know about anything that had happened because he hadn't been watching television, but Chloe kept looking over, almost waiting for him to start talking, trying to come up with some excuse for him.

Clark had been trying to keep Chloe calm to some success when Bart came through Watchtower's doors.

Tess shot Bart a look that clearly said not to mention anything about the guy almost taking Chloe away with her father in the room.

Neither Chloe or Bart gave a crap that everyone had pretty much decided that no one else should be coming around Watchtower to be seen by Chloe's dad.

Bart just wanted to see Chloe with his own eyes and Chloe always liked seeing Bart.

"What's up, Beautiful?" Bart said, enveloping Chloe in a hug.

Gabe turned his head in Chloe's direction when he heard the new voice, Bart's voice.

Chloe returned Bart's hug and whispered to him, "So I guess you saw all that lovely shit on TV, then?"

"Yeah," he whispered back. "And I bet that you're more freaked out about the fact that your face was on camera than almost being taken away."

Chloe let out a little laugh. It probably sounded insane, but Bart was right.

She pushed him away gently and elbowed him jokingly.

"See how well I know you, 'Licious?" Bart said, grinning.

Gabe watched and raised an eyebrow.

" 'Licious, huh? Where'd that come from?" Gabe asked.

Clark and Tess both grinned, Chloe tried not to laugh, and Bart looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Leave him alone, Daddy," Chloe said. "It's our thing."

"Nice to meet you, sir." Bart said, attempting a smile.

"He's a flirty one, isn't he?" Gabe asked Chloe, a little bit amused.

"I wouldn't have him any other way," Chloe said, winking at Bart, forgetting today's events for a moment.

Bart smirked, liking the response. He hugged Chloe again and quietly told her he just wanted to see that she was fine with his own eyes, but that he had to head out.

"Anyway, I've gotta go. I just stopped by for a really quick hello," Bart said, loud enough for Gabe to hear.

"Thanks for coming," Chloe said, as Bart exited.

Chloe looked back at her dad, who was holding Rina and saw Rina staring back at her.

"Hand her over, dad," Chloe said, walking over to her father. "My turn with the princess now."

Gabe handed Rina to Chloe and then turned to face Clark.

"I don't think I'm going to get anything out of this one," Gabe said, nodding at Chloe. "She's in baby-land now, but why don't you tell me about Chloe and that Bart boy? He seems somewhat familiar. He an old boyfriend of Chloe's? I love giving guys that aren't you or Pete who are close to Chloe a hard time, give me the scoop on him so I can bug him if I ever see him again."

Clark looked at the older man, amused.

"What?" Gabe said, shrugging his shoulders. "I need some kind of amusement being cooped up in this place all the time."

Clark grinned and went over to sit with Gabe.

"Are you happy to see me?" Chloe asked Rina, smiling at the baby. "You look happy to see me, and I'm _totally _happy to see you."

Chloe already felt a bit calmer holding Rina. That was the tendency. Rina had a calming effect on Chloe.

Chloe walked over to Tess, holding Rina.

"How'd they find you? You and Oliver lost them earlier. Why the hell would they think to look for you at a baby store?" Tess asked quietly.

It was only as Tess said this that Chloe really thought about the why. And now that she was thinking about it, the only answer that she could think of was Janelle.

"Take her for a second," Chloe said, handing Rina to Tess.

Tess was clearly uncomfortable. "Don't be a coward, she's just a baby. She's not going to bite you. I just need a second."

Tess awkwardly took Rina from Chloe.

Chloe shook her head and clenched her teeth. "I bet you anything it was that stupid bitch from high-school, Janelle. I'm gonna find her and I'm-" Chloe mumbled, walking out of the room so that she could hit something without her father wondering what was going on.

After a minute of hitting things, Chloe went back into the other room.

"Calm down, Sullivan," Tess said, amused by how pissed off Chloe was.

"Talk about something else, then. All I want to do is kick her ass, so get a new topic and fast," Chloe said, taking Rina back.

"I've got nothing else to say," Tess said.

"You're _so _helpful," Chloe said sarcastically, walking away from Tess and passed Clark and her dad, heading into the room with several beds.

She lay down on a bed, and put Rina down on her chest so that the baby was practically face to face with her.

"Did you have fun with my dad, today?" Chloe asked, rubbing the baby's hand. "I think you did. I heard that you didn't cry at all. You're such a good girl. I hope you stay this perfect forever."

Rina made a sound that sounded like a laugh and put her hand on Chloe's chin.

"Is that your way of telling me to enjoy this perfectness while it lasts? You're trying to tell me this is only temporary, aren't you?" Chloe laughed, tickling her feet.

"We got you a lot of awesome stuff today, cuteness. You've got clothes in every colour you could ever think of, and there's lots of toys for you. I think you're gonna be a very happy camper when we bring the stuff to you."

The baby looked perfectly content, and Chloe felt some more calm roll over her.

"I think you're gonna be very helpful in the time to come, pretty girl," Chloe said, rubbing Rina's cheek. "I'm gonna be a crazy person, so you're gonna have to calm me down, okay?"

Chloe could honestly say that Rina was the cutest baby she'd ever seen. You could just stare at her and grin and the time would pass by quicker than you knew.

"I can't tell for sure, because apparently it can change a lot, but I think you've got Davis' eyes. That's not a bad thing at all, by the way," Chloe said, smiling a bit. "His normal eyes- I've always loved them."

Rina seemed to be enjoying touching various parts of Chloe's face which just made Chloe laugh.

"You know what I've been wondering, Rina? You know how you seem to have a talent for calming me down, well what if that _is_ a sort of talent you've got, huh? As far as I know, that wasn't some sort of set ability for Davis, but maybe because he was different, you'd be able to do some different things, too, even if it's not the same as him. Or maybe it's just that you're totally awesome and I completely adore you."

"You taking a nap in there, Chloe?" her father called out from the other room.

"Let's go sit with them and see what's going on," Chloe said to Rina, getting up and heading back to where Clark and her dad were.

"So, did you buy out the whole baby store?" her father asked.

"Not the _whole _store, but the cashier did say that she'd never seen an order as big as ours."

"Did Oliver talk you into getting a bunch of green?" Clark asked, grinning.

Chloe laughed and nodded her head. "But don't worry, I got plenty other colours to balance it all out. I only let him get away with green for some clothes, nothing else is green though."

"You know what I want to see right now?" Gabe said.

"What?" Chloe asked.

"Pictures. I know you've got a whole bunch around here somewhere. I'm feeling nostalgic."

"Clark, you wanna grab them for me? You remember where I put them, right?" Chloe said.

"Yeah," he said, getting up.

"Miss Serious Tess, would you like to join us?" Gabe called out.

Tess smirked but didn't turn around to face Chloe's dad. "No thanks. Not interested. I've got stuff to do."

"She doesn't need to see my baby and high-school years, dad," Chloe laughed.

Clark returned with the box quickly.

Chloe's dad was having an awesome time looking at the pictures and Chloe tried to do the same, trying to put the fact that she and Oliver were no longer a private thing out of her head.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"There we go. The little bastard is finally opening his eyes," Oliver said, glaring at the man tied up in the chair.

The man in the chair opened his eyes, finding himself surrounded by Oliver, Bart, Jonn and Lana.

"I think I should start off by saying that this is going to be a painful experience for you. There's no avoiding that," Oliver said furiously, as his fist connected with the man's jaw.

"Moneybags is _definitely _right about that," Lois said, storming into the place, and heading straight for the man in the chair.

"You think that you can try to take her to Lex so that he can do God-knows-what to her and get away with it? No fucking way, little man. You don't screw with my little cuz and get away with it," Lois said, voice dripping with venom, as her fist, too, connected with the man's jaw.

"You're going to tell us everything you know," Lana said, glaring daggers at the man.

"You're going to tell us everything you know, and we don't particularly care how we have to get that information out of you. We don't have any qualms about getting into questionable methods," Bart said, looking the man directly in the eye.

Jonn said nothing, but did not take his eyes off the man for one second.

"Listen. I don't have anything against Chloe, not a damn thing. I don't want to hurt her. She's never done a damn thing to me, but Lex wants her, and he won't hesitate to kill me-"

"Neither will we," Lois and Oliver said at the same time.

"There's a reason my boyfriend isn't here, you know? He doesn't like killing. There's a chance he might give a crap about your life. He's really honourable like that," Lois said.

"I don't give a crap about your life," Oliver said. "I care about _Chloe's _life. Maybe if you co-operate and tell us everything you know, I could find it in myself to give a crap about your life too. I could get you out of the country with a new identity and you'd be safe and sound from Lex- _if _you tell us what we want to know."

"Listen, man. He scares me," the guy said.

"We get that, we really do," Lana said. "But we don't really care. Help us out, and then Oliver can help you out."

"I'm not letting anyone take Chloe away from me, you need to understand that. Let that sink into your skull. I'll do anything I have to to find out what Lex is up to. I'm not a bad guy. I'm not an overly violent guy, I'm really not. That's gonna change real quick, though, if you don't start talking."

"You better keep your word, Queen," the man gulped after silently thinking for a moment. "I'll tell you what you want to know, but you'd better make sure you get me the hell out of this country and away from that psycho Lex."

"Talk, and we'll see. If I believe you're telling the truth, I'll get you out of here."

"Okay, um, where should I start?"


	36. Chapter 36

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks to Sarai, Raya, Hellzz-on-Earth, morning1 and Bree for reviewing. Here the new chapter. Hope you like it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o **

"Clark, I need your help with something. Can you come with me for a minute?" Chloe asked as she gave Rina back to Gabe to hold.

"Yeah, sure," he said, following her into another part of Watchtower, away from Rina, Gabe and Tess.

"So what's up?" Clark asked.

"Something is going on. No one is answering their phones. Ollie, Bart, Lois, Lana, Emil, Jonn-"

"You feel like we're being left out of something, too?" Clark asked her. "I've had this feeling like something is going on since we got here."

"Something is definitely up. I wonder if Tess knows anything," Chloe said, sighing.

"Let's go find out," Clark said, heading back to where they were before.

"We don't need to ask her anything," Chloe said, looking down at her phone. "I just got a message from Bart. You and me have a secret interrogation session to crash."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Oliver and Lois were not going to be happy with him at all if they found out, but Bart didn't particularly care much at the moment. He wanted Chloe to be safe and secure as much as anyone else and that's why originally he had kept his mouth shut and was happy that Chloe would be staying back at Watchtower with Clark, but the longer he was here in the room with the guy who tried to take Chloe, the guy who worked for Lex, the more he felt like he needed to tell Chloe what was going on. She had the right to be here. She would want to be here. She should be the one asking him questions. She'd be furious when she found out that no one told her they had this guy, so he just messaged her their location and told her to make sure that she brought Clark.

It wouldn't be long before they got there. Bart was literally counting down the time in his head and he grinned in spite of the horrible situation when he heard Chloe and Clark arrive. He guessed their timing perfectly.

"So what me and my BFF Clark here are wondering is why the hell there seems to be some sort of meeting or interrogation session going on here without us," Chloe said, clearly pissed off.

She and Clark made their way towards the rest of the group and they both made it clear that they were not happy about not being told about this.

Oliver and Lois looked the guiltiest out of everyone and were the first to ask how Chloe and Clark found out what was going on.

"Who told you?" they asked.

Chloe wasn't going to throw Bart under the bus, so she easily brushed it off.

"I didn't need anyone to tell me anything. I'm Watchtower, remember? I'm really good at finding shit out," Chloe said, glaring at her cousin and boyfriend.

"Come on, Chlo," Oliver started.

"Do _not _speak to me right now, Oliver," Chloe said icily.

Lois was going to speak but Chloe silenced her cousin with a look.

At least Lana and Jonn had the decency to look as if they knew they shouldn't have kept them in the dark.

Clark eyed his girlfriend, clearly upset and disappointed.

"Don't look at me like that, Clark. There's stuff we need to know from this loser and we need to make him talk- everyone knows that you're more moral than the rest of us," Lois said.

"Don't be mad, man," Oliver said, trying to back Lois up.

"I don't really want to hear from either of you right now," Clark said. "You're both basically implying that I don't care enough about Chloe to get the necessary information from this guy, and that's complete and utter crap."

"No, Clark. That's not it," Lana said gently, trying to smooth things over.

"Clark, don't even waste your breath," Chloe told him. "Let's just find out what's going on."

Chloe turned her gaze to the man tied up in the chair. "My would-be kidnapper, how nice to see you again. What have we missed so far?"

"Uhh well, I got my face smashed in a couple times by your boyfriend and cousin," the guy said nervously.

"Lovely. What else?" Chloe asked impatiently.

"If I tell you guys what I know about Lex and what he's got planned, Mr. Queen will get me out of the country and help me with a new identity."

"And how do we know that this all isn't some kind of plan you cooked up with Lex? How do we know if we can trust you?"

"Lex will kill me if he knows that you guys have caught me. I value my life, that's how you know you can trust me," he said.

"I don't know what you've told these guys so far, but you're going to repeat everything for me and Clark now, too," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

The guy who worked for Lex looked to Oliver as if asking if he really needed to repeat what he already said.

Chloe saw this, and her bad mood worsened. She could not stand being kept in the dark. She just wanted to smash something into a million pieces. She settled for slapping the taste out of the man's mouth instead.

"Don't look at him. _I'm _talking. You look at _me _when I'm speaking to you," Chloe said, angry and frustrated.

There was no question in anyone's mind that Chloe was feeling more than just angry.

"What does Lex want? Why is there so much hate?" Clark asked the man.

Lois and Oliver exchanged sympathetic looks with each other. They knew that they had a lot of apologizing to do where Chloe and Clark were concerned. They were both in the doghouse as far as their significant others were concerned.

"I don't know who you are, but Lex never mentioned you," the man said, nodding in Jonn's direction, but keeping his eyes on Chloe. "But the rest of you- he hates your guts. He hates you," he said, nodding at Clark now, "because he said you turned on him, never trusted him or appreciated his friendship.

"He thinks Oliver has been an asshole since they were in school together. That's one of the reasons for the hate, there's also the fact that Oliver tried to kill Lex and thought that he had been successful," the man said, addressing Chloe while speaking about the others. "He hates Lana because he says that he would have given her anything and everything. He loved her and she never reciprocated. He says she's ungrateful and he hates her for all of that.

"He can't stand Lois because he sees her as a pest who loves to write bad things about him, who wants to ruin him. He knows that she thinks he's garbage and he hates her for that. He hates Bart because he sees him as ungrateful. Lex gave him work and money when Bart had nothing, and Bart basically threw it all back in his face when he joined up with Oliver.

"And you, Miss Sullivan. I think Lex started his hate rant for you by saying that you're ungrateful. He says that he kept you safe and protected you from his father when you were in high-school. He says he protected you, yet it still wasn't good enough for you later on. You were always suspicious of him. You knew about Clark's secret, and you never really trusted Lex around Clark-"

"And I was damn right not to trust him," Chloe said.

"I'm not arguing with you on that at all," the man said, continuing. "He said that you could and should have told him Clark's secret, but you never did. He said that he and Clark would have been best friends if it wasn't for you. He also knew that you thought he wasn't good enough for Lana, and that you thought Lana was crazy for marrying him. You knew what Oliver did to Lex and you thought that he was dead and you didn't tell anyone. You knew what Oliver did, but you you kept quiet. You never told Clark because he would have been angry. You protected Oliver. You picked Oliver over Lex by keeping your mouth shut, and Lex was the one who had protected you."

"He protected me when I was sixteen years old. Since then the bastard has done plenty of things that are completely the opposite of protecting me. Did he forget that Oliver and Clark had to come rescue my ass because he had me kidnapped and held me at Black Creek?" Chloe said, shaking her head.

"I thought that exact same thing when he was ranting on," the man said, clearing his throat. "He hates all of you. He says that you all deserve to pay for how you treated him, and he planned to make that happen through you. He's made different attempts and none had worked. He says he thinks he hates you the most out of everyone. He wants revenge on everyone and he thinks the easiest way for it is through you. They all love you. If Lex were to get you, everyone would be miserable and none of them would ever forgive themselves when he got his hands on you.

"He wanted to make you suffer and let them all know exactly what was happening so it could eat away at them all and kill them slowly knowing that they couldn't save you," Lex's employee said, looking at the ground. He could only imagine the death glares he was getting.

"He wants revenge and he wants to be able to benefit from your skills. He knows that you can heal, and that's something he needs for his experiments because people keep dying on him. You could help him build perfect soldiers."

"Sick bastard," Chloe spat.

"I can't argue with you about that," the man said, keeping his gaze on the ground.

"Where is he?" Chloe asked.

"He's got a couple spots," he said, gulping. Lex would most definitely murder him for sure for this now if he ever found him. He told Chloe about the two spots.

"We checked that spot," Bart said when the other man told them the second of the places that Lex stayed.

"You checked before he made anything of it," the man said.

"We should have kept a better eye on that place after we checked it out," Chloe said, upset that Lex had been somewhere that they knew about.

She turned away from the man tied to the chair and back to Lois and Oliver. "When were you going to tell me that you had him here? Or was I never going to know?"

"We were going to tell you, Cuz. We just didn't want you out here. We wanted you safe in Watchtower," Lois said.

"This guy was after _me! _I have the most right out of anyone to be here," Chloe told her.

"But we were going to find out everything important Chloe. We would have told you everything," Oliver said.

"I don't care that you guys thought you were keeping me safe. That's bullshit. This involves me. That means I should have been told what was going on. I should have been here. I'm not weak or helpless. I've been through more shit than I care to recount at the moment and I'm still standing pretty strong, and that's something you seem to have forgotten. I'm not some kid. Don't treat me like one."

"I know how tough you are. I know that, but this is scary shit, okay? Someone tried to take you away, and that's not okay at all. I'm sorry that you're mad, but we just want you safe," Oliver said, trying to make things better.

"No more talking, please," Chloe said, turning her attention back to their captive.

"Tell me about the baby and Selena," Chloe demanded.

"The baby is not Selena's biological daughter. Selena was simply a surrogate. "She didn't fake her friendship with you. She never told you anything other than what she believed to be true. Lex had someone play with her head and set her on her way in your direction. As your friendship would grow with Selena, Lex assumed so would your feelings of fondness for the baby she was carrying. Lex always planned on taking the baby when it was born and he was going to use it against you.

"He thought that you would never let any harm come to your friend's child and that you would trade yourself for the baby if need be. If that didn't work, if the friendship thing didn't work, he was going to use her parentage against you.

"Because she's Davis' daughter," Chloe said sighing.

"Yes," the man said. "He was never actually going to hand the baby over, though. His plan was always to have the both of you. You for your healing, and the baby because of her father having alien DNA. He had the feeling that she was going to be special, would be able to be of some sort of benefit to him. Lex was convinced that even if by some weird chance she didn't inherit any special abilities because of who Davis was, she'd still be of use to him because of her mother."

"So did he steal some woman's eggs or was it something consensual?" Chloe asked. "And what's so special about her mother? And is she human?"

"Lex stole- the woman never even knew. She was completely knocked out during the abdominal egg extraction procedure," the man said, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for the worst. "Her mother is a human who has a meteor power and Lex thought that it would likely transfer to the child also."

"Whose egg did Davis' sperm fertilize?" Chloe asked.

He hoped it wouldn't be the case, but the man tried to prepare himself for a violent reaction. He took another deep breathe before answering. "Yours. Biologically, you're the baby's mother, Miss Sullivan."

Chloe's jaw dropped in shock.


	37. Chapter 37

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks to Raya, GoChlollie, Sarai, Bree, Carrie, Madlenita, hendin and Hellzz-on-Earth for reviewing the last chapter. Here's the new one. Hope you like it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think : ) o-0-o-0-o**

She cleared her throat to speak as she concentrated on keeping her feet firmly planted on the ground. Maybe somehow she heard the man wrong. Maybe he just had his facts wrong.

Chloe was too focused on what she had just been told to look at anyone else in the room. If she had, she would have seen four shocked people, one person who looked as if they were just piecing together some important facts- not appearing as shocked as the others, and one person who did not look surprised at all. Those last two people were Lois and Oliver.

"I must have heard you wrong. That, or you're mistaken. I can't be-"

"You heard me correctly, and I know exactly what I'm talking about. Lex did the procedure when he had you at Black Creek. You were knocked out. They did the abdominal egg extraction and you were none the wiser. Haven't you ever wondered how you got your scar? I'm assuming there's a small scar, because I heard that's what usually happens with this sort of thing."

"Oh my God," Chloe said quietly.

She lifted up her shirt and found what the man was talking about. Chloe took a deep breath and traced the scar with her finger.

"I wondered how I got that since the day I left Black Creek," Chloe said, sighing.

Chloe shook her head and tried to clear it for a moment. She needed to put her emotions aside and remember that she had questions for Lex's guy.

"What exactly does Lex have planned for me?" Chloe asked, unable to keep her mind from wandering back to Rina.

"He was never specific about anything. Basically the only thing he ever really said is what I already told you."

Chloe turned her gaze in Oliver's direction and noticed that Oliver didn't look at all shocked, while everyone else was still wearing greater and lesser forms of it.

"You're not shocked at all?" she asked him, looking him in the eye.

"You were really attached to her from pretty much the first second you saw her. Her being yours makes that make a lot more sense to me," he said, not meeting her eyes.

Oliver wasn't meeting her eyes, and that meant that he wasn't telling her everything. Chloe went silent again and thought about recent events, seeing if she could piece some things together.

And now that she was thinking about it, a bunch of different things started to piece themselves together in her head.

Chloe thought back to the conversation she had with Oliver in Emil's kitchen, the one where he told her that he'd say he was Rina's dad. She tried to remember exactly what it was that she had said before he told her that.

She had been stressing over what to tell her dad about Rina. She said something about leaving her dad with psychological scars if he actually knew the truth.

She said that and he had looked as if he was seriously thinking about something. And then he told her to say that Rina was his.

There was something in that conversation that gave him an attitude adjustment, something in that conversation that made him tell her that he was sure he and Rina would get along and promise her that he would be good to Rina. What was it exactly, though?

Scars. That was it. It was after she mentioned psychological scars. That's when he basically told her exactly what she wanted to hear. Chloe was putting something together in her head. Forget the psychological part, Chloe would bet that that's not the part that caught Oliver's attention. It was just the scar part. The word 'scar' is what prompted it.

Chloe took a guess that when she had said scar, he had thought about the small one she had. And if he had already been wondering about why Chloe was so attached to the baby, if he was wondering if maybe by some chance Rina was actually Chloe's- he might have wondered about the nature of the scar...

Oliver must have thought that that scar could have been exactly what Lex' employee said it was. He had thought that Rina could be hers, and that's why his attitude had changed.

If he thought that Rina could be Chloe's he would want to know for sure. The only way to know for sure would be to run a test. And who would Oliver get to run that test? Emil.

Chloe bit the inside of her cheek, and clenched her hands into fists. That's what Emil was up to yesterday when he collected extra samples of DNA from her. His excuse about losing what he already had was bullshit and that's why he had been so nervous.

Chloe would bet all the money she had that all this is exactly what had happened.

"Emil was nervous as hell yesterday when he collected more samples from me. What would he have to be nervous about if he was really just doing what he was supposed to? "

Oliver cut Chloe off before she could say anything else. Oliver knew that somehow she was piecing things together. Oliver knew that she knew exactly what he had Emil do yesterday.

"Okay, I know what you were getting to. I had Emil collect more DNA samples from you so that he could run some tests. I thought the baby might somehow be yours, and I wanted to know for sure. And I know what you're gonna say, and you're right, you're 100% right, you had every right to know exactly what was going on. You're already stressed, though. I didn't want to give you even more stress. I just wanted you to try to relax. I knew that if you knew about the test you wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it. I didn't want to add more to your plate. And if she didn't turn out to be yours, I would have got you all worked up for nothing," he told her.

Chloe had heard enough. She was angry. Part of her knew that Oliver wasn't trying to do anything to upset her in any way. Part of her knew that these things he had done were really because he just didn't want her to worry, but that didn't matter very much to her right now. What she wanted was honesty.

Chloe sighed, shook her head and started to walk back the way she came in, wanting more than anything just to get back to Watchtower to see Rina. "Someone let me know if you learn anything else from this guy. I'm out of here. Clark, can you take me back?"

"Yeah, let's go," Clark said, following her.

Oliver started to follow, but Lois and Lana grabbed his arm and shook their heads.

"Leave her alone for a bit, Ollie," Lois said, unable to keep Rina off her mind.

Chloe being that baby's mother made some sense to Lois. That might explain why the baby seemed to be so comfortable with herself and Gabe- they were family. This revelation, while Lois felt bad for how confused Chloe must, made Lois quite happy. She adored that baby. It was nice that she'd be able to call her family.

"No," he said, going after Chloe and Clark. "You guys keep asking questions. I'll be back later. I'm not gonna give her any more time to get even more pissed off with me. I need to do damage control. I need happy-Chloe, not wants-to-kick-my-ass Chloe."

"How does he plan on getting Chloe to go from wanting to kick his ass to being happy and forgiving?" Lana asked, laughing a little in spite of what everyone just learned.

She couldn't blame Chloe for being angry, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for Oliver.

"My guess is by getting her alone in Watchtower, somewhere away from Clark, the baby, my uncle and Tess, getting himself and her naked and having a whole bunch of sex with her," Lois said, smirking. "I'm totally no longer interested, but I do remember that he could be very persuasive when he wasn't wearing any clothes."

Lana snorted, and Bart groaned. "I don't need those images in my head, Pretty. I really don't."

Jonn just shook his head and tried not to laugh.


	38. Chapter 38

**o-0-o-0-o Thanks to Raya, Madlenita, GoChlollie, Carrie, morning1 and JamesTKent for reviewing the last chapter. I hope you guys don't hate me right now. One of the reasons that this is so late is that I was totally clueless about moving houses. We moved to a new house and I just had no idea how long it was really going to take us. I really underestimated how long it would take. I also got a new computer. The store did a data transfer for me of certain things from my old computer, some chapters for this story included in that, but that didn't work out. I basically had to re-write a lot. Also, it took longer than I thought it would for the people to come set up the whole internet system in our house. The more major reasons that happened after that and are the ones that have really put me behind on the updating are that I had to take care of my cousin while my aunt was in the hospital. And my sister was in a pretty big car accident and in the hospital. My mind was very focused on that, but that stuff is okay now. After that happened my boss got sidelined at work and I basically had to do her job and mine taking up more of my time, and now I'm also dealing with a broken arm lol so I've been writing with one hand and I'm sure you guys can imagine that that really slows someone's writing down. Anyway, I'm back. It's been awhile but I've missed this story. To the readers, you guys are awesome. This is the newest chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o**

Chloe paused when she and Clark got back to Watchtower. Clark noticed this and made no move to go any further.

He stood by Chloe silently while she appeared to be deep in thought. After a moment or two she turned to face Clark and he knew that she was about two seconds away from crying. Clark wasn't surprised. He was expecting this or outright rage at some point.

"Come here," he told her, pulling her into a hug.

As soon as she felt her best friend's arms wrap around her, she let herself cry.

"Can we just go back for a little while, Clark? Can we go back to when things were simpler? Can we go back to when we were younger, before all this craziness, to when it was just you and me, just for a little while, when there was no Lex in our lives, before I met Jimmy, or Ollie or Davis?... I'm crying like an idiot. Everything is crazy." Chloe said, barely above a whisper.

"Cry as much as you want. It's just you and me. I'm here. I've got you," he said softly, hugging her a little tighter. "You don't want to go back, though, not for more than a little while. There are a lot of things you love in the here and now. Things were still crazy even when we were all innocent and clueless, and with our luck Chloe, even if we could turn back time, some other crazy thing would have happened. I think things would have ended up mostly the same."

"I've always kinda been a magnet for trouble and craziness, haven't I?" Chloe said, laughing a little even though she was still crying.

Clark kissed her forehead and Chloe took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, blinking away her tears. "Stupid crying time is over," she said, giving Clark one last squeeze. "The Clark hug did the trick."

Clark gave her a grin.

"So," Chloe said, wiping away the last of her tears. "What do you think of all this?"

"The baby part, or everything that happened today?" he asked.

Chloe shrugged.

"I think you've had one hell of a day, and I definitely can understand you longing for a moment when times were simpler."

Chloe sighed and leaned her head back against the wall.

"That whole thing with the cameras at the baby store- I know that that's really bothered you more than you're saying."

Chloe nodded.

"And then us being kept out of things, and the whole baby thing- I think you're holding up really well," Clark told her. "I'm proud of you."

Chloe smiled. "I have a kid," Chloe said after a moment. "There is a little girl in this building that has my DNA, and it's a really big thing to wrap my head around. I've loved her from the first time I looked her, but I never predicted this. Besides Bart, I'm the youngest one in our social circle- I didn't expect to be the first one with a baby."

"I didn't predict this either. I mean I wasn't expecting anyone to be calling me Uncle Clark for at _least_ another five years, but I guess we've got to push that up a little bit now," he said, sending Chloe a grin.

Chloe laughed.

"So how long do you intend to not be talking to Oliver for?" Clark asked.

"Why?" Chloe said, rolling her eyes.

"Just because I can almost guarantee that he'll be here in a little while. He's going to want to make everything better, and I don't think he's going to believe that giving you space is really going to do that."

Chloe just ran her fingers through her hair.

"I'm not his biggest fan at the moment, but he's completely in love with you. You know that, right?" Clark said.

"I do know that. And despite the fact that I'd love to kick his ass right now, I love him too. But I'm _really_ pissed off right now, and I don't even have time to think about how annoyed I am with him. There are two things that I want to do right now, and none of them involve being annoyed. I just want to go upstairs and hold Rina, and I want to see my mother," Chloe said, proceeding further into Watchtower. "I want to bring Rina to see my mom. I know she's out of it and maybe it's weird, but I really want to bring Rina to her."

"I don't think it's weird at all, Chlo."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Oliver wanted to get to Watchtower right away, but he thought that he might fare a little better with Chloe if he brought some coffee with him, so he stopped by a small coffee place before heading to Watchtower.

When he got to Watchtower, he saw Chloe sitting with her dad and Clark while she held Rina. Before Chloe or the two men could notice Oliver, Tess silently motioned him over to her.

"The audio was on downstairs when Chloe and Clark got here. I'll keep this short, and I'll be sure to remind you of this favour I'm doing for you at another time."

"What favour?" Oliver asked. "I didn't ask for a favour."

"No, but I think you need it. She's mad at you and isn't really in the mood to talk to you from what I heard her say downstairs. Anyway, she wants to see her mother. The baby and her mom are the only things she's focusing on right now. Take that info and run with it. I'm sure you can use that to your advantage somehow. I'm sure you can use it to make her less angry."

Oliver breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought right. On his way here to Watchtower he kept trying to think of something he could do that would make Chloe happy, or at least less angry with him. Seduction had popped into his head, but he didn't think Chloe was going to let him get her alone, so that was probably out of the question. Then he thought of Chloe's mother and that was it. That's where Chloe would want to be. Oliver imagined that now more than ever Chloe would want to see her. He called one of his guys and told him to be ready with a car if he were to call him. He sent the guy a message.

"Does her dad know about anything that went down today or that she's pissed off at me?" Oliver asked.

Tess rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh. "Why, are you scared of her dad?"

"I'm just not in the mood to have to answer any questions right now," he said.

"Yeah, sure," Tess said, dismissing Oliver with a wave of her hand.

"You gonna stand over there forever, Rich Boy?" Gabe called out, looking at Oliver.

Chloe and Clark then turned around and saw Oliver, too.

"Come sit with us, Queen," Gabe said. "I don't think I've had a proper conversation with you yet."

"You know what, you're right," Chloe said to her dad. "You haven't really talked to him much. This is the perfect time for you two to get to know each other. I have some things I need to show Clark, so this is the perfect time for you and Oliver to have a one-on-one chat," Chloe said, getting up from where she was sitting. Tess bit her lip and held in her laughter. It was pretty obvious Oliver wanted to do just about anything more than have a chat with Chloe's dad.

"Trust me, I'd love to, but you and me, and the tiny one have somewhere we need to be," Oliver said.

"Really?" Chloe said stubbornly. "I don't remember us having any plans for the rest of the day."

"You've got a lot on your mind, it's understandable that you forget a few things here and there," Oliver said easily, making sure he sounded as if everything between them was perfectly fine. "Trust me, you'll want to see who we're going to see. And you'll definitely want mini-you to see her too."

Chloe looked at him for a moment and seemed to have figured out that he meant her mother.

She sent him a look that said 'Okay let's go, but you are not back in my good books.'

"Okay, just give me a minute. I want to change into something else," Chloe said.

"Sure," Oliver said. "I'll take Rina while you change."

Chloe tried to hide her surprise at Oliver's offer. She didn't think he had ever touched the baby voluntarily.

Oliver hoped to God that the baby was asleep, because if the one time Chloe had made him hold her was any sort of example, she would start crying as soon as she was put into his arms.

Chloe brought Rina to him and he was relieved to see that she was asleep.

Gabe watched his daughter and Oliver.

Oliver could see that Chloe was confused as she passed Rina to him.

"Chloe, I know that you're really mad at me right now, and I'm sorry. And I'm sorry about that crap outside the store before. I know that you don't want to be dealing with that… I love you. And now I know that Rina is yours. Half of this baby is you, and knowing that- I don't care who her father is. She's a part of you and that's really the only thing that matters now. I don't care if she's Davis' daughter anymore. That doesn't matter to me. She's yours- _that _iswhat matters to me. She's yours, so I'm going to love her and I'm going to be here, and I'm going to help you. Okay?" Oliver whispered, hoping that Chloe heard the sincerity in his voice. He meant it all.

Chloe looked at him closely, took a deep breath and nodded.

She walked into the other room quickly, but her dad caught her wiping her eyes. He had watched the little interaction between his daughter and Oliver closely.

Clark knew that Gabe didn't hear what Oliver said because he had been whispering, but Clark did, and what he heard made him smile. He was still annoyed with Oliver, but he was happy to hear what Oliver said to Chloe.

Chloe shook her head as she pulled a different pair of pants on. She was crying and she didn't want to be. She wanted to stay furious with Oliver for at least a little bit longer because he deserved it after going behind her back, but he had said pretty much everything she wanted and needed to hear.

Back in the other room Clark and Tess tried to keep their faces from betraying anything when Gabe spoke.

"This is the first time I've seen you hold the baby," Gabe said to Oliver, looking intently at him.

"You haven't seen me very often. I hold her plenty," Oliver said, trying to sound normal, but lying through his teeth.

"I don't mean anything bad by it," Gabe said.

"Okay," Oliver said, nodding.

Oliver was surprised when Gabe gave him a warm smile.

"You actually seem like a good man, Oliver. Let me know when you have some time. I really would like to talk to you."

Oliver was a little taken aback. Gabe had never been mean or rude with him, but he never seemed as nice as he had in the last thirty seconds. Oliver was sure he had missed something.

Gabe was looking at him with a sort of warmth.

He looked as if he finally just figured out something that had been bothering him for awhile, and it was a little unsettling.

Oliver looked to Clark to see if he had just missed something very obvious, but Clark looked a bit confused, too.

Gabe let out a little laugh at seeing the look of confusion on Oliver's face.

"Each time I've seen you, I've been watching you, Oliver. There's just something a little off about when I see you around Rina- nothing bad, just a little odd. There's the fact that I've never once seen you hold her, and the fact that you usually look as if you don't know what to do with yourself when she's around. I know that not everyone is great with babies and that not everyone wants to hold a baby, but I just figured that someone could get over that in the case of their own kid. It's obvious that you love my daughter, so it just didn't make too much sense to me to see you keep such a distance from a child that is supposed to belong to the both of you.

"I've spent a good amount of time just staring down gazing at my beautiful granddaughter and I don't see even the tiniest amount of you in her face at all. That in itself isn't so weird, some kids look completely like one of their parents and bear no resemblance to the other. I know Rina's just a baby, and that her looks will probably change, but there's no sign of you anywhere on that child. I definitely see Chloe in the baby, but there's a couple feature's that don't resemble my daughter's… Rina's not yours. That makes the other stuff make sense to me, and that makes me appreciate the effort that I do see you try to put into things. Not every man could love someone else's kid. You're a good man to make an effort."

Oliver, Clark and Tess had no clue what to say.

Oliver tried to get it off his tongue that Gabe didn't know what he was talking about, but Gabe had just completely thrown him off.

Chloe came back into the room and wondered what the hell she had missed when she saw the looks on Oliver, Clark, and Tess's faces.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked.

"There's nothing wrong. I've just figured out something that I've been wondering about. Well maybe, there's a little something wrong," Gabe said, sighing.

"Why couldn't you just tell me the truth, Chloe?" her father asked.

"What truth?"

"That Rina's not Oliver's," he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Dad," Chloe said, panicking, but trying to sound convincing. "Maybe you should get some rest. We've got to go," Chloe said, making her way over to Oliver, nudging him to start making his way out of Watchtower.

"I've got to go too," Clark said, getting up quickly, sharing a look with Chloe. Clark knew that Gabe would attempt to get answers out of him in Chloe's absence and he wasn't prepared to deal with that. "Lois needs help with something."

"She's not Jimmy's daughter. Davis, the one you wouldn't really talk to me about, he's her father, isn't he?" Gabe asked, not letting it go. "I don't get why you wouldn't tell me. Did you think I would be ashamed of you or something?"

"I don't know what brought all this on, Dad, but just let it go, okay? As my father, the only thing you need to be concerned with is that she's _mine. _I'm _your _daughter, and she's _my _daughter, that's the only thing that should matter," Chloe said, realizing that nothing she was going to say was going to change her father's mind.

She'd been realizing that her father was far more perceptive and smart than she gave him credit for.

Chloe didn't need any of this. She just wanted silence. She wanted to be left alone. The run in with the media alone was more than enough, not even taking into consideration the other stuff that had happened. Chloe didn't need this with her dad.

She didn't actually like lying to him about Rina, but she didn't want to tell him the whole crazy story behind everything, especially not knowing how he would react. She had to keep in mind what he had told her about his heart being weak.

"Of course it is," her father said, seeing that Chloe was getting very annoyed and frustrated. "But-"

"You have no idea what kind of day I've had, Dad. I'm exhausted. My head is pounding. I feel like I'm going to explode. I don't want to talk. I want you to leave this alone. Please. Please," Chloe said, trying to remain calm, but feeling anything besides calm.

She couldn't get everything that had happened today out of her head, she couldn't deal with her father right now on top of it. She had cried already, she wasn't going to cry now. Now thinking about everything was just _really, really _ pissing her off.

Running into Janelle, getting caught by the camera crew, almost getting taken away, being face to face with the guy who tried to take her away, hearing about what Lex wanted to do, and learning that because of Lex's meddling she was actually biologically Rina's mother had clearly all caught up with Chloe. Oliver could see Chloe's hands shaking.

"I have to show Chloe something before we go. Can you take her for a minute?" Oliver said, passing Rina to Clark.

Oliver took Chloe's hand, and headed out of the room quickly.

"What do you want, Oliver?" Chloe asked, rubbing her head. "I don't want to talk. What I want to do, I'm pretty sure, is smash someone's face in," Chloe said, about to start ranting, even though she said she had no desire to talk.

Oliver cut her off before she could say anything. He grabbed her and he kissed her.

Chloe forgot that she was supposed to be mad at him and pulled Oliver closer, kissing him back fiercely.

There was anger, sadness and frustration in that kiss, Oliver felt it. There was relief in it too, though.

Chloe was a bit of a mess emotionally, and even though she was still upset over him keeping things from her, she was relieved and calmed by having him there with her. And kissing him was awesome.

She finally pulled away from him and took a deep breath.

"Feel better now?" Oliver asked her with a little grin. "A little less frustrated?"

Getting Emil to run tests to see if she and Rina shared DNA behind her back wasn't okay. Catching and holding one of Lex's employees and keeping her out of the loop wasn't okay.

Chloe rolled her eyes at him and started to walk away, wanting to at least keep up the appearance of still being angry with him a little bit longer, even though the actual anger seemed to have gone, knowing that his intentions had been good.

Oliver's expression changed to a more serious one. He caught her wrist and held her gaze.

"Don't keep things from me. Don't leave me in the dark, especially when something concerns me," Chloe said, sighing.

"Okay," he told her. "Sorry, Sidekick."

"I know," she said, giving his hand a little squeeze.

"It's been quite the day, huh?" Oliver said, giving her a gentle nudge.

"Let's talk about it later," Chloe said, leaning her head against his shoulder for a minute. "Let's just get Rina and get out of here for now and go see my mom."

"The driver will be around in a few minutes."

"Thank you," Chloe said.

"For what?"

"Even though you mess up in some ways, you know me so well. Thank you for knowing what I need right now, for knowing that I need to see my mother."

Oliver just gave her a shrug and a little smile, relieved that she wasn't furious with him, and thankful himself for Chloe ever letting him get close enough to know her so well.


	39. Chapter 39

Thank you SO SO SO much to everyone who reads, reviews and enjoys this story. I'm sorry to do this whole author's note thing because many will think this is an update and it's not.

I haven't updated Pieces since summer. It's not because I'm giving up on writing it, but I haven't been able to work on it for emotional reasons. I'm going to update but it's taking me quite awhile to get there. Some of you may follow my Vampire Diaries story "Ties" so you may know that there was a significant amount of time where I couldn't work on that either.

I experienced the loss of more than one person in my life. It was hard to sit and focus on doing anything in general really. I did get around to updating Ties awhile back but that took me awhile to be able to do.

Pieces is really hard for me to touch due to the fact that one of the people who passed away has a really strong link to this story for me. Whenever I've tried to write anything for Pieces after losing that person , it just brings up losing a great friend and it's really hard to deal with emotionally on top of all the other stuff going on.

Pieces WILL be updated, I think I'm slowly getting back into the place where I can work on it. I really want to because I loved writing the story, it's just been hard emotionally.

I am so grateful to all of the readers of this story, so I just wanted everyone to know what's been going on and that I absolutely do intend to continue this story. I have Guest reviewers and I cannot respond to them in messages, so this was the most convenient way to let everyone know what's up.

Thanks again to you all. Please continue to be wonderful and patient as you have bee,n and I will get the ball rolling on Pieces again, hopefully soon : )


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